Wild Rock
by Sadalmelik
Summary: Sawako has always been unlucky when it came to things like relationships. Fortunately, she meets someone who might turn things around. Will things go as she expects? Sawako x OC
1. Chapter 1: Nostalgia

**WILD ROCK**

_Chapter 1 - Nostalgia_

"Goodbye, Sawako-sensei."

"Goodbye, girls. Be careful on your way home."

Sawako smiled as she waved the girls goodbye. She had just dismissed her class and most of them have already gone and left, while some stayed for cleaning duty and others just sat to chat with their friends. She picked up her things from her desk and started to clean up so she could go back to the faculty room, but not before she could talk to Azusa, who was cleaning the chalkboard.

"I'll be leaving the room in your care, Azusa-chan." She said, giving the little girl, who was now a senior, a light tap on the shoulder as she looked up at her teacher. "I'm heading back to the faculty room." She continued. "I still have a lot of stuff to take care of."

Azusa nodded, smiling. "Sure, teacher. By the way, will you be going up to the music room later?"

"No, I don't think so. It looks like I'm going to be pretty busy."

"Oh. I see." Azusa said, sounding a little disappointed as she went back to erasing the writings on the board.

"Maybe tomorrow." Sawako reassured her as she left the room. She just couldn't afford to waste any more time today.

Several other students greeted her and waved her goodbye as she walked along the hallways of the second floor. After school activities have begun and most of the girls were on their way to their respective clubs.

After last year's seniors of After School Tea Time graduated, things have been completely different. They've almost completely quieted down. A new band had taken over with Azusa taking the lead, but it just wasn't as fun as it was last year. No more of Mugi's delicious tea, Yui's untroubled daydreams and ideas, Ritsu's witty comebacks, and most of all, no more Mio to torture with her amazing cosplay ideas.

Now a lot of things have changed, but some of their qualities remained in the new members of the Light Music Club. Their new drummer, Sumire Saito, and their new rhythm guitarist Ui, even knew how to make delicious tea and sweets like Mugi, while Jun, the bassist, reminded Sawako of Yui and Ritsu. Their band manager, Nao, who was also a bit shy and preferred working off-stage, reminded her a lot of Mio.

Sawako giggled just thinking about it. She was smiling as she walked. Those girls may have caused a lot of trouble, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss them.

She sat down in front of her desk and groaned at the sight: a large pile of test booklets that she still needed to check, along with various reports from the student council that she's supposed to review. After so long, she actually felt the weight of her job on her shoulders again. Last year everything was just so light and carefree that she enjoyed everything she did at school, including things like this. But now it was as if she became a decade older.

She leaned back and thought about it. Will the rest of the year feel exactly like this? If that's the case, she was probably already doomed.

But then she caught a glimpse of a photograph of her with the five members of After School Tea Time pinned on her little corkboard. They were all smiling, except for Mio, who looked embarrassed as always. Just then, she heard the sound of an electric guitar playing an E chord and letting it ring, probably for a little sound check. It was soon accompanied by another guitar, and then the drums, until eventually the entire band started playing as a whole. It must have been Azusa-chan and the others. Sawako smiled as she stared at the picture, getting back some of her cheer.

ᴥ

"Yeah, thanks. Take care." Takeharu said as he waved goodbye to his friends. They were on their way to out and have a drink, while he still had to go to work. Working at a call center really had its disadvantages. He was already on his way home to leave his things so he could travel lighter to work, and he was taking the long route, passing by Sakuragaoka High. He could hear a full band playing from outside the gates and saw a few girls making their way home. Classes must have been over already.

It was his first time passing by this school since he moved to the city, and he couldn't help but stare at the main building as he walked. It looked like a nice place, plus they played good music.

"Whoa!" He shouted as he was taken aback, feeling like he just bumped into a giant wall, when in fact, he bumped into some girl who looked a little too old to be a student, so he assumed that she was one of the faculty members.

Haru managed to make her drop everything she was holding, from the textbooks to the Student Council reports. Everything was just one big mess.

He started helping her out and picked up most of the things she dropped. "I'm really sorry about that, miss." He said as he handed everything back to her. "It was my fault for not looking."

Sawako fixed her glasses and looked up at him, almost forgetting what language she spoke.

Haru was tall and pale, with short auburn hair and hazel eyes. He wore a white v-neck shirt under a black blazer and paired it with denim jeans and brown dockside shoes. He definitely knew how to dress. Sawako was speechless.

"Hey?" He called again, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her. She looked like she was puking rainbows.

"Oh, yes. Of course. I'm sorry too." Sawako said, snapping out of her little trance and taking the documents back.

He stood back up and gave her a hand so she can stand up again as well. Haru smiled and pointed up to where he thought the music was coming from. "Nah, it was all me." He said. "Do you hear that? That's what's been distracting me."

"Oh, you mean the Light Music Club?"

"Light Music Club?" Haru repeated.

"Yeah." Sawako said, fixing her glasses. "Those are my students, and I'm also the moderator of their club. They're always practicing like this."

Haru nodded and grinned. Sawako could tell how interested he was in their music. "Oh, so you are a teacher. I knew you looked too old to be a student. And I figured you weren't in uniform, so..." He noticed the weird look on her face that surfaced the moment he said 'too old'. "I mean, uh... but you look awfully young, it's almost hard to believe you're already working."

"Nice try." She giggled. "But it's all right. My girls from last year used to tease me like that too. But now they've already graduated."

"Ah, I see." He said. "Oh, and I'm being completely rude. I haven't even introduced myself yet. The name's Takeharu Sato. You can call me Haru for short." He shook her hand as he introduced himself.

"I'm Sawako. Sawako Yamanaka. It's nice to meet you, Haru." She smiled. Suddenly, the school bell rang, signalling that it was already five in the afternoon. Sawako suddenly remembered everything she still had to do. "And I still have a lot to do!" She started fixing her things. "I'm really sorry, Haru, but I'm kind of in a hurry. It was nice meeting you, and sorry again for the trouble."

"Huh? Hey, wait—!"

With that, she ran from where she was to the parking area at the far end of the street and into her car. Haru watched her as she drove away, noticing a piece of paper on the ground. It must have been hers.

He picked it up and looked at it. It was an unchecked test paper that belonged to Ui Hirasawa.

"Hirasawa?" He whispered to himself. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

Haru wanted to try and remember what it was, but he just shrugged it off and put the paper inside his satchel and started to make his way home again, with the Light Music Club still playing in the background.

He started walking again, grinning to himself as he did so. "Sawako, eh?"

Looks like he found a pretty good excuse to see her again.


	2. Chapter 2: After School Tea

**Chapter 2**

_After School Tea_

"Sawa-chaaaaan!"

Yui and Ritsu both charged and leapt forward to give their old teacher the hug of the year. Sawako fell from her seat along with her chair while Mio and Mugi looked down at them along with the current members of the Light Music Club. School had just ended and the girls were having one of their daily after school tea. Since they were free for the rest of the afternoon, the girls of Houkago Tea Time decided to pay the old music room a visit and maybe catch up.

"Oh, for the love of fries." Sawako groaned as she struggled to sit up. Ritsu and Yui were still holding onto her, not showing any sign of letting go.

Ui giggled and placed the tray of sweets on the table, happy to see that nothing has really changed. "Oh, sis." She said. "You're going to crush her."

"But we missed her so much!" Yui said. "We missed you all so much!" She then stood up and hugged Azusa tightly, rubbing her cheek against hers affectionately. "Especially you, Azu-nyan! How have you been?"

"We haven't even been gone for that long." Mio commented.

Azusa could only sigh as she let Yui molest her cheek. She hasn't done that in a while, after all.

Sumire grabbed more chairs so that the others could sit with them and started placing teacups on the table while Ui took care of the sweets. "Why don't you guys join us for tea?" She told the members of Houkago Tea Time, completely surprising them.

"She's a Mugi clone!" Ritsu gasped.

Mio and Mugi smiled at each other and looked at them again, feeling the nostalgia. "Of course, we'd love to." Mugi said.

* * *

><p>"So how have things been with the club?" Mio inquired, gracefully taking a sip from her cup.<p>

Sawako shot a mischievous stare at the current Light Music Club members, knowing that they knew that nothing much has really changed. Like their predecessors, they spent more time chatting and having tea than actually playing music. But unlike Houkago Tea Time, they at least practiced almost every day.

Azusa laughed nervously. "Well, um... we've been practicing a lot, you know. We just wanted to take a break today."

"Really?" Ritsu said, grinning just as impishly as Sawako.

"Y-Yes, of course!" Azusa insisted, pouting. She really wanted to make some progress this year, but old habits just die too hard, especially when they had members like Ui and Sumire around serving them such delicious food. She's worried that it might even go on until they graduate.

Yui turned to Jun and Ui. "Have you written any new songs?"

The current members all looked at each other. All of them were suddenly too shy to talk. The answer to that question was going to be embarrassing, considering it's already the second quarter of the school year.

Ritsu, Yui, Mugi and Mio all looked at them eagerly.

"No, we really haven't." Ui finally said, not looking bothered at all about it. "We've only been playing your old songs."

"Well, that's not so bad." Ritsu said.

Mio smiled, hoping that the seniors wouldn't get offended. "Yeah. Writing songs really shouldn't be rushed. It takes a lot of work, but in the end it feels good after you've finished one."

"She's right, girls." Said Sawako. "Writing songs because you're inspired to is a lot better than being forced to."

Suddenly, the open door made a creaking noise, catching the attention of everyone in the room. They turned to the direction of the noise and saw a tall, well-dressed man holding a piece of paper, probably in his early twenties, knocking twice on the door.

"Good afternoon, I'm looking for Miss Yamanaka... Sorry, am I interrupting anything?" He asked.

Sawako blinked. "Takeharu?"

"Wait, you know this guy?" Ritsu inquired as everyone looked curiously at their teacher.

She really didn't quite know how to answer that. "Well, um, sort of. Uh, excuse me, girls." She said, standing up and walking towards him. "What are you doing here? Is there something you need?" She said only loud enough for the two of them to hear. Sawako could feel the girls staring at her suspiciously from behind.

Haru gave her the piece of paper he was holding. "You dropped this yesterday while you were hurrying home." He said. "I wanted to return it sooner, but I still had work this morning."

Sawako took the paper and looked at it. "Hirasawa's test paper. So it was with you all along. I've been looking for it all day."

"I'm really sorry." He said, laughing nervously.

"No, it's fine." Sawako shook her head and smiled up at him. "Thanks for bringing it back to me."

Haru only grinned in response, giving Sawako a perfect view of his perfect teeth and glancing over at the group of girls at the tea table and recognizing a few familiar faces. He smiled at them, surprised. "Oh, Yui and Ui. Is that you?"

Yui and Ui both gasped as they realized just who he was. "Haru-chan!" Yui called, waving.

Everyone looked at the Hirasawa sisters. "Wait, you know him too?"

* * *

><p>"Haru-senpai lives in the house in front of ours. He used to tutor me and my sister back when we were still in elementary school." Ui explained. Everyone was back at the tea table, and Haru was given a seat and a teacup right next to Sawako as the Hirasawa sisters introduced him to everyone else.<p>

Everyone looked at him, amazed. To them, he looked refreshingly normal. "He's so clean!" They all said in unison, causing him to become extremely embarrassed. Then again, of all the words to describe him, why did it have to be 'clean'?

Yui sighed dreamily. "He's really nice. He makes good curry and always shares some with us."

Mio sighed. "Is food all you care about?"

"I thought the name on the test paper sounded familiar. I almost forgot your last name was Hirasawa." He told Ui and Yui.

"I didn't know you were already back from the States, though. Are you on vacation or something?" Ui said.

"I actually just got back a couple of weeks ago. I just graduated from Columbia, and I decided to come back to Japan. It was nice there and all, but there's just no place like home." He explained.

Ritsu raised her hand purposefully. "I completely agree, sir! There's no place like Japan!" Haru just smiled at her.

"Oh, that's right. You took CE, right?" Ui said. Haru nodded in response.

"CE? Columbia?" Yui asked, blinking as he looked at Ui and Haru.

Mio sighed. "It stands for Computer Engineering. And Columbia is an Ivy League University in New York City."

Mio could see Yui's face glow in amazement upon hearing the words 'Ivy League' and 'Engineering'. It was one thing for Yui to be oblivious about these things, but as soon as she saw the same expression on Ritsu's face, she just hung her head and gave up. Even now, these two were still hopeless.

Looks like Haru's got himself some fans, though.

"Well, Haru-senpai's always been really good at math, so I'm not surprised." Ui said. "Look at you, now a full-fledged engineer."

Yui grinned at Ui before looking at Haru again. "So does that mean you're back for good?" The question was getting Sawako's hopes up. She was really starting to like Haru, and it'd be nice if he came around more often.

Haru nodded. "I guess you could say that."

"So then, how'd you meet Miss Sawa-chan?" Ritsu pried, completely changing the subject. "Are you her boyfriend or something?"

"No, of course not!" Sawako defensively replied, almost immediately.

Haru only laughed as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "No, no. It's not like that. I just met her yesterday in front of the school. I kind of bumped into her." He said.

"Really, now? Or did you do it on purpose?" Ritsu said deviously, raising an eyebrow. It made him nervous. It was really starting to feel like some sort of interrogation.

She received a quick thwack to the head, courtesy of Mio. "Stop being so intrusive." She scolded.

"Nah, it's fine. I don't mind the questions." Haru said. "By the way, are you all members of the Light Music Club? I heard you guys play yesterday after school. It was really good." His appraisal actually caused the girls to blush, especially Azusa and Ui.

Mugi shook her head. "Oh, no. We've already graduated: Mio, Yui, Ritsu and I. You must have been listening to the Wakaba Girls." She said, pointing to the current members of the Light Music Club.

"What song were they playing?" Yui asked.

"I don't know." Said Haru. "But it went something like..." He then vocalized the guitar intro of Fuwa Fuwa Time rather sloppily. His voice wasn't that great, but then again, nobody's perfect.

Mio immediately recognized it. "Oh, you mean Fuwa Fuwa Time?"

"Ah, so it's called Fuwa Fuwa Time. How cute." Haru said. "I really love the bass line, it's catchy but it's not that complicated. Who wrote the song anyway?"

"That would be Mio right here." Ritsu said, pointing at their embarrassed bassist.

"Really? That's awesome." Haru extended his hand for a high five, but Mio only stared at it. He put it down, laughing at the embarrassment of his rejected high five. It was completely out of character, though. Haru really wasn't the 'high five' type. The idea must've just popped into his head because he was praising a kid. "What, you don't do high fives?"

Ritsu grinned. "Nah, she's just really, really shy. In fact, she's the definition of shyness in human form. She was born shy. She's the daughter of the Shy Gods."

"Do such things even exist, Ritsu-senpai?" Azusa said. None of what she said really made any sense.

"Am not!" Mio argued, her face turning red.

All of the girls stared at her. "She's so cute." They all said in unison.

"Oh." Haru replied, looking at Mio. Looks like what "But you're a performer, right? Shyness shouldn't be part of the equation."

"I know, it's just..." Mio didn't know how to finish that question. She caught a glimpse of Haru looking at her, worried, before she made her eyes focus on the table. They had barely even met, but he was already starting to act like an older brother. She was flattered, but the alien feeling made her feel uncomfortable, just like everything else does.

Haru could only shake his head and chuckle. "But to write a song like that with that bass line, you must be really talented, Mio."

Ritsu could see Mio getting really uncomfortably shy. This is probably the first time she got praised by someone like Takeharu, and she just didn't know how to handle it.

Suddenly, the bell rang, signalling that it was 6PM, causing Azusa to stand up in shock. "Oh, crap! It's already six!" She exclaimed, looking extremely disappointed. "And we didn't even get to practice."

"Wow, I didn't notice the time." Sawako said, glancing at her wristwatch. She stood up as well and looked at her students. "You girls should go home. We still have classes tomorrow." He then turned to Houkago Tea Time's college freshmen. "You too."

Ritsu raised an eyebrow and giggled mischievously at Sawako. "Really, Sawa-chan? You really don't sound like yourself today!"

"Well, how about this?" Sawako replied, pinching both of Ritsu's cheeks hard while managing to maintain a calm smile. Haru could only laugh nervously as he watched the girls bond. They were all laughing and this Mio girl hit the loud short-haired girl with the headband once again, while Yui was still cuddling with the long-haired girl in pigtails. They were all so weird that it was actually pretty cute.

* * *

><p>"See you later, Sawa-chan! Haru-chan!"<p>

The girls all waved the two of them goodbye as they left the school and started going home as one huge group. Haru and Sawako waved back and smiled, staring after them as they walked and made sure that they crossed the street safely before turning to each other again.

Sawako sighed in relief and smiled up at him. "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. You've got pretty interesting students," Haru replied laughing. "Now that got me all nostalgic. High school really is the best years of our lives."

Sawako flinched and chuckled to herself, remembering her high school days, being part of the Light Music Club and all, and being the vocalist of the all-female metal band Death Devil. _Yeah, good times._

Haru noticed her. "What's up? Something wrong?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing." Sawako giggled off, placing a hand over her mouth shyly. She had already locked away that part of her past; there really was no need trying to dig it up again and exposing it to a guy as nice as Haru. If he knew about it, he'd probably be so scared of her that he'd run away, like many of the guys she had grown to like.

She dreaded the thought. It's been so long since she's met a guy like Haru, and she didn't want him to step out of her life now that he's in. Well, at least not yet.

"So." Haru almost shouted, completely surprising her. "Do you have a lot to do tonight?"

"Are you asking me out already?" Sawako looked at him suspiciously, yet playfully, causing him to blush. She found that cute. He looked pretty tough and serious, but at the moment he was being so shy. She didn't want too appear too serious or too shy, but she didn't want to be seen as too aggressive either. "By the way," she said. "The way you commented before about the song you heard yesterday... you seemed to like the bass line a lot. Do you also play?"

He nodded, showing her the callused fingers on his right hand. "Yeah, but that was way back in high school. I haven't played since I graduated. I've been too busy."

"Oh, so you're a leftie, too?" Sawako was pleasantly surprised, remembering Akiyama. "You know, Mio, the shy one you talked to before; she's actually also a left-handed bassist. She'd be thrilled when she finds out you actually have something like that in common."

"Really? Are left-handed bassists that rare these days?" Haru said.

"Well, yes. Don't you think so?"

"Come to think of it, I guess we are a rare breed." Haru said, pondering on the idea. "But that doesn't mean we're better than the rest or anything special."

Sawako giggled. "You know, you're way too humble for your own good."

"Ha." Haru scoffed. "You think that. Wait until you hear me play. That's when you'll find out just how terrible I am."

Sawako could only laugh in reply. They continued to walk and talk about music and other things, until eventually she forgot that her car was still parked at the school. Haru did a great job distracting her as he walked her home, and all throughout his trip back to his own apartment, he was grinning like a fool.

He just couldn't stop smiling. And the same went for Sawako.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ So how are you guys liking the story so far? Please don't hesitate to make corrections or point out some characters that seem out of character. And if there's anything in the story that doesn't seem right, you can tell me. I'm all for improvement. :bd Also, thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter. Your encouragement means a lot. I'll try my best not to disappoint. :)_


	3. Chapter 3: Overture

**Chapter 3**

_Overture_

"Ricchaaaaan!"

Yui yelled as she ran across the quiet hallways of the J. Women's University main building, seeing Ritsu and Mugi talking, but Mio was nowhere to be found. The two of them watched her as she came to a full stop right in front of them, gasping for air from all that running.

"What is it, Yui?" Ritsu asked, a slightly tired look surfacing on her face. Mugi only smiled at Yui as she struggled to catch her breath. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty pretty important... or something related to food.

Finally she snapped up and looked at Ritsu, her eyes burning with a fire that terrified the two of them. "It's so horrible!" The young guitarist exclaimed, sobbing and tugging on Ritsu's shirt.

Mugi looked worried. "What is it?"

"I'll show you!"

With that, Yui started running all while still holding on to Ritsu's sleeve, dragging her along as she ran. And Mugi really didn't have a choice now, so she decided to run after them. Yui wasted no time. And if Ritsu sees that what she's about to show them isn't worth their time, she's going to be so pissed.

Yui managed to lead them to the first floor, near the admissions office, where they hid on a corner with their backs pressed against the walls.

"What the heck are we hiding from?" Ritsu demanded, but still whispering.

"Look." Yui pointed towards the hallway, and Ritsu and Mugi took a quick look from the corner and found Takeharu, Yui's neighbour, the same one they met last week, talking to one of their professors, Ms. Megumi Takada. They were laughing and smiling and being all flirty, but mostly it was just Ms. Takada.

Ritsu gasped. "That's Haru-senpai!" She said. "But what's he doing here? And why is he talking to Ms. Takada?"

Under normal circumstances, seeing Haru in their school talking to one of the professors wouldn't be a big deal, but this was Ms. Takada. She was their World History professor. She's beautiful, smart, mature, and very nice—the perfect role model for her students. Everything she did, she did with utmost coolness and elegance. If there ever was a perfect couple, it'd be her and Haru.

But not when he's with their precious Sawa-chan. No freaking way.

"He's cheating on Sawa-chan. He was such a nice guy! I trusted him!" Yui sniffed.

"Now don't jump to conclusions." Ritsu said, still closely observing the two as they continued talking, squinting her eyes as she did so. Somehow they had completely forgotten the fact that Sawako and Takeharu weren't even dating, well, at least not yet, anyway. Ritsu and Mugi continued to watch as Yui continued tugging on Ritsu's shirt.

Ritsu slapped her hand lightly so she'd let go. "Stop that."

"You're so mean!" Yui whined, pouting as she rubbed the back of her hand.

Mugi put a finger over her lips, signalling them to keep quiet. "Keep your voice down." She said. "They might hear us."

"What the heck are you guys doing?"

The three of them nearly jumped in surprise. They all looked up and saw that it was Mio who asked the question. She was looking down on them with an eyebrow raised. They couldn't tell if she was curious about they were doing or was already aware of what it was and was hoping that they would stop messing around like this.

Ritsu immediately grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down, causing her to tumble over and sit sloppily next to them, disappearing from Haru and Megumi's line of sight. She pointed at the scene they were observing. "Looky, looky." She said.

Mio sighed. This is absolutely pathetic, but she looked anyways. Her eyes widened. "Isn't that Sato-senpai?" She said. "What's he doing here?"

"Talking to Ms. Takada, obviously." Ritsu gave her a blank stare. "I absolutely cannot believe that he's cheating on Sawa-chan like this. I actually thought he was a nice guy." She sighed. "Ugh. Men are all the same."

Mio looked at them and realized that they all seemed to be on the same page. _Oh my God. You have got to be kidding me. _She smacked her forehead.

"I think you're exaggerating." She said. "And besides, Sawa-chan and Sato-senpai aren't even dating. Well... are they?"

"Well, it looks like they're dating." Yui insisted.

Ritsu just shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Wait!" Mugi exclaimed, pointing towards Haru and Megumi, who were already walking, heading to who knows where. "They're getting away!"

Mugi followed them ever so covertly, while the other three stared after her. In the end, they really had no choice but to follow as well.

"Man, Mugi sure gets too into these things." Ritsu said with a sigh as she walked.

Haru and Megumi eventually made their way out of the University grounds and strolled lightly along the sidewalks, with the girls of Houkago Tea Time hot on their tail. They hid bush after bush, post after post, as they followed. Finally, the two stopped in front of a pedestrian lane, waiting for the light to go green so they could cross.

Mio looked at the three and saw that they were still pretty serious about what they were doing. "I don't know, guys." She sighed. "This looks pretty normal to me. Maybe they're just good buddies."

Suddenly, Yui pulled out her phone from her pocket in one swift move and flipped it open, looking for Sawako on her contacts list.

"What the heck are you doing, Yui?" Mio asked. Whatever it was, she was already pretty sure it was going to be something stupid.

Sawako was at the faculty lounge, looking through her advisory class' quizzes when her phone vibrated on her desk. She blinked in surprise as she picked it up, seeing Yui's name on the screen. She flipped it open and pressed it against her ear.

"Hello?"

"SAWA-CHAAAAN!"

Sawako winced, pulling the phone away from her face. The damn thing wasn't even on speaker. Some other teachers who sat nearby heard her former student's voice and looked at her.

"Please excuse me." She told them as she headed out, laughing nervously. As soon as she made sure that the door was closed behind her, she placed the phone over her mouth. "Don't just call me and yell at me like that!" She screamed back. Yui and the others winced on the other line. But afterwards she just sighed and put it back against her ear. "What do you want, Yui? And this better be good."

"Sawa-chan! Haru-chan's cheating on you!" Yui said, as if it was the greatest piece of information she has ever had the pleasure of sharing with anyone else.

Sawako sighed again, rubbing her temples. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Ritsu snatched the phone from Yui and pressed it against her ear. "He's right here! Talking to one of our professors, being all flirty and giggly and window-shoppy!" She glanced at them as she talked, seeing them talking in front of a boutique.

"What? You mean you're following them?" Sawako demanded.

"Of course we are! Why shouldn't we?" Ritsu answered. "And besides, aren't you worried? I mean, you're dating, right?"

That statement still made Sawako blush, but she knew that was miles away from the truth. "For the last time, girls, we are _not_ dating." She said. "We're just friends. Besides, we just met. So I'd really appreciate it if you left him alone."

The four of them all looked at each other, with Ritsu, Yui and Mugi looking pretty disappointed. They didn't want to stop, at least not yet. They were already having so much fun. But Sawako herself already told them to stop, so they really had no choice. The girls were just about to give up when Mugi suddenly gasped.

"What is it, Mugi?" Mio asked her.

Mugi pointed towards Haru. "Look." She said.

And they all did so. Megumi seemed to have seen something in the boutique that made her laugh, and Haru laughed with her too, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they continued on their little stroll.

Sawako tapped her feet as she waited for someone to talk on the other line.

All three of them gasped. "I can't believe it! That two-timer!" Yui yelled.

"Status report!" Ritsu exclaimed. "Haru-chan just hugged Ms. Takada!" She didn't know why, but somehow what Ritsu said shook something inside of Sawako. Something like jealousy, maybe?

Mio smacked her friend on the head. "Stop exaggerating." She took the phone from Ritsu, rolling her eyes. "Hello, Ms. Sawako?"

"Yes, Mio, is that you?"

"Yes." Mio said. "We are terribly sorry for bothering you at a time like this. Please go back to what you were doing." And with that, she clicked and ended the call, returning the phone to its dumbfounded owner, and leaving Sawako to stare at her phone. But she just shrugged it off and went back inside the faculty room.

_Those crazy girls._

"Now can we please leave them alone now?" Mio suggested.

Ritsu gave her a playful look, batting her pretty little eyes, and poking her arm. "Oh, come on, Mio. Aren't you at least a little curious?"

Mio was just about to say something when the thought hit her. Ritsu got her this time. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious at all about Takeharu's little friendship with their professor. She couldn't admit it, so she just stared at the floor.

"Ha, that's your answer right there." Ritsu laughed, going back to their little covert operation.

They all gasped as they looked at where Haru and Megumi were, finding only an empty sidewalk with absolutely no sign of them. People came and went, but they couldn't see their professor and her friend.

Yui and Mugi ran until they were in front of the boutique, where they last saw them, and looked around, but there was still no sign of the two. "Where could they be?" Yui said.

Ritsu and Mio followed them, and Ritsu sighed in disappointment. "Great. We lost them."

* * *

><p>Somehow the girls had ended up having tea in one of the cafes near the University, pondering on what they saw today after school. Ritsu let her chin slide down on the table, still disappointed about the fact that they lost sight of Haru and Megumi.<p>

Mio took a sip off her cup. "Well, that sure was weird."

Yui leaned in and pressed her elbows against the table, using her hands to support her chin. "Do you really think Haru-chan's going out with Miss Takada?"

"Nah, I don't think so."

The four of them nearly jumped as soon as they heard the deep voice coming out of nowhere, and when they turned to see who it was, they saw none other than Haru, who already took a seat at the head of the table, smirking down at the girls.

"Haru-chan!" Yui said, "What are you doing here?"

"Did you hear all that?" Ritsu inquired.

Haru nodded impishly and grinned. "Not only did I hear all that, but I also saw you girls following me this afternoon." He said. "Now why would you girls do something like that?"

They all stared at the floor, too embarrassed to answer.

Haru looked at Mio, who looked most embarrassed, and decided to stare. They had just met a week ago, but he definitely knew her kind and was positive that she wouldn't be able to resist telling him the truth. "Mio?" He said. "Could you please answer my question?"

Mio looked at him, terrified of his stare. Yui took notice of this and decided to raise her hand. "We thought you were dating Sawa-chan and you were cheating on her with Ms. Takada!"

"Wait... what?" Haru blinked. He then started laughing, and the girls just stared at him. "You girls have got it all wrong." He said, still chuckling. "Megumi is my cousin. We were just hanging out so we could catch up on stuff."

"Wait, where is she anyway?" Yui asked, looking around.

"I already drove her home. Said she had a long day." He said, as if it was no big deal.

Yui sighed in relief. "That's good."

"But you were being all flirty and stuff!" Ritsu insisted.

"Oh, you mean that arm-around-the-shoulder thing? I did that on purpose. I already knew you were following me then." Haru said.

"You sneaky son of a..."Ritsu mumbled.

"And besides, Sawako and I aren't even dating. Well... at least not yet."

The girls all gasped, pleasantly surprised. Only an idiot wouldn't know what that statement meant. "Does that mean you're interested in Sawa-chan?" Mugi asked, obviously getting excited.

Haru laughed a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Let's keep that our little secret for now." He told them. "I'm still not sure if she's interested in..."

"Of course she's interested in you!" Ritsu said excitedly, cutting him off.

"Really?" Haru asked almost just as immediately. "How can you tell she is?"

Ritsu took a sip off of her cup before answering him. "I don't know. It's like... you know, a girl thing. But I'm positive." She said. "I mean, I have no idea how Sawa-chan acts whenever she's with a guy that she likes, but she's definitely a completely different person when she's around you."

Yui snapped her fingers. "Yeah! Like last week, when you came to Sakuragaoka High after school. She was, like, really not herself."

"What do you mean?" Haru inquired, tilting his head like some confused little boy. "Does she have some sort of alter ego or something like that?"

"Do you wanna see a picture of her when she was still in high school?" Ritsu grinned, as if Haru really had a choice. She pulled one of Sawako's many high school pictures from her wallet and showed him one from her Death Devil days, taken from one of their concerts.

Haru took it and stared at it. "Wow. She was so... wild." It was really all he could say. He then started staring idolatrously over the photograph, his eyes glowing, as if he was looking at a picture of a cute innocent little puppy. "Look at her, being all rock n' roll and stuff. It's so cute." He said.

The girls all stared at him. How could he see anything cute in a picture like that? "Geez, and I thought he was normal." Said Ritsu. She then laughed. "You can keep that if you want. I have a backup of that on my computer anyway."

"Thanks." He replied, grinning. He placed the picture inside his own wallet and put it back in the pocket inside his blazer. "I knew it. I knew she was also a musician. She seemed to know a lot about playing the guitar, and besides that, she's also the moderator of your Light Music Club."

"Yeah, she's a great guitarist." Yui said, getting excited again. "She even taught me how to play and sing at the same time!"

Haru couldn't help but scoff. "What? But it's not that hard."

Yui pouted. "But it was really hard for me!"

"By the way, you never really told me how you got yourself to play the guitar Yui." He said, leaning on the table. "Let me guess... was it some sort of requirement at school?"

"Wow." Mio said. "You must know her so well."

"Well, we kind of grew up together." Haru told Mio. "And one thing I know about Yui is that once she sets her mind on something, she's gonna keep on going until she gets what she wants." She then turned to Yui. "Something must have interested you enough to actually give music a try."

"Yeah." Ritsu laughed. "After school tea and sweets."

Haru laughed as well. "Ah, I see. Everything's still about food, isn't it, Yui?"

Instead of being offended, Yui just blushed and sighed distantly, seeing cakes and tea in her head. "Yeah, Mugi's tea and sweets are just awesome."

Mio and Mugi could only giggle. Some things just never change.

* * *

><p>"Let me give you girls a ride home." Haru offered as they walked towards his red Innova at the parking lot of the cafe. It was already 9 in the evening. They were having so much fun talking about music and Haru's life that they didn't notice the time.<p>

He unlocked the doors and opened the one to the driver's seat so he could turn on the lights inside, and the girls were all amazed. The Innova was pretty big. It could probably carry all five of them, plus Sawako and Azusa.

"Wouldn't that be troublesome?" Mugi asked. "You'll have to drive all four of us home."

"Oh, no. Not at all." Haru shook his head. "It's pretty late, after all. I wouldn't want you girls to run into any ruffians on the way home."

Ritsu wasted no time and opened the door on the other side to the passenger seat right next to the driver's seat, grinning. Mio could only sigh as she and Yui and Mugi went to sit at the back.

Mio went in first, followed by Mugi and then finally, Yui. They looked around and found that everything was surprisingly in order; Haru was pretty neat for a man his age. There were, however, empty cans of beer sitting at the back, but the girls could barely smell them. In fact, the car reeked of the air freshener that Haru kept, not that it was a bad thing. There were also a couple of jackets sitting next to the empty cans, along with a pack of cigarettes with only two sticks left.

"Don't mind the things at the back." Haru said, becoming aware the girls had taken notice of the junk. "Sometimes I have pretty wild nights myself."

He finally climbed up and sat down, fixing his rear-view mirror and fastening his seat belt. He then turned to Ritsu, who was so giddy about riding shotgun that she looked like she didn't want to do anything else. She was checking everything out, from the glove compartment to the side mirror, to the little Gundam figurine that was sitting in display.

"You should fasten your seatbelt, Ritsu-kun." He told her, chuckling.

"Oh, right." Ritsu said, doing as he said. "All done!"

He then glanced at the girls at the back through the rear-view mirror. "Everyone okay in there?" He inquired. They all nodded. "Now, which one of you am I going to deliver first?"

Yui raised her hand. "Me! Me!"

"That means you're going to be the first to leave." Mio pointed out.

"What?" Yui exclaimed. "I don't want that!"

"Then how about rock-paper-scissors?" Ritsu suggested, kneeling on her seat as she faced the others. "Loser gets to go home first, how about that?"

"You're on, Ricchan!"

* * *

><p>"Bye, Yui!"<p>

Everyone waved Yui goodbye as Haru dropped her off in front of her house. She didn't seem too happy at all about it. But as expected, she was the first one to lose.

Yui watched them as they drove off, sobbing. "No fair!"

"All right. One down, three to go." Haru said after he began driving again.

"You look like you're in no hurry to get home." Ritsu observed.

Haru smirked and started laughing maniacally, giving Ritsu a demonic glare. It was so dark and scary that it almost felt Sawako's signature 'death glare', only a hell of a lot scarier. "The truth is, I just wanted to get Yui out of the way so I could have my way with you girls." He said as he chuckled deviously. "I can't wait to get the three of you back to my place."

Ritsu and Mugi gasped in horror while Mio just fell silent, as if she was turned into stone.

Haru looked at the back and saw what happened to Mio, changing his expression back to normal. "I was kidding." He said.

Ritsu sighed in relief as she glanced at Mio before looking at Haru again. "Geez, don't scare us like that. For a moment there, I actually thought you were serious."

"Yeah, me too." Mugi said, also sighing in relief.

"Don't worry about Mio, though. She's just really a huge scaredy-cat." Ritsu explained, still seeing that Mio was still frozen.

Haru laughed. "Now I feel bad for doing that." He looked at her through the mirror. "Sorry about that, Mio."

But the bassist didn't respond. She was still petrified.

"Earth to Mio!" Ritsu called, waving a hand over her face, but no dice. Now Haru was starting to get really worried.

"Is she okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Ritsu insisted. "Happens all the time." She then sat back down and turned to him again, completely ignoring Mio now. She was bound to wake up soon anyway. "By the way, you didn't answer my question."

"What question?" Haru asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"What I said before, about you not being in a hurry to go home at all."

Haru couldn't help but chuckle. "That wasn't a question. More like an observation." He corrected her. "I actually have to go to work later on at 11, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to be late at least once."

"11? Why do you have to work that late?" Ritsu looked at him, raising her eyebrow. She was really trying her best to get rid of the dirty theories in her head that stated that he may be some sort of call boy or something. "Are you, like, some sort of...?"

And Haru knew exactly what she was thinking. "Whatever you're thinking, that's not it." He said. "I work at a call center, in a technical team. That's why my schedule's a bit crazy. Not really the best one to follow, but hey, they pay good bread so I can't complain."

"Must be tough." Ritsu commented.

"Yeah, you can say that again." He replied, giving out a tired sigh.

Mugi looked at him, worried. "Are you sure we're not bothering you? We wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

"Come on, it's fine, girls. Don't worry about me." He laughed, waving the idea off with one hand. "And besides, what would Ms. Sawako say if she found out I just let you girls go home on your own at an hour so late?" He actually thought about it. "She'd probably smack me."

Ritsu just laughed and shrugged. "Knowing her, we'll be the ones in trouble instead of you. She just likes you too much."

Haru scoffed and shook his head. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me."

* * *

><p>Haru took Ritsu and Mugi home, venturing quite the distance since Mugi lived near the edge of the city. It was now only him and Mio, who had already woken up from her petrified state. She also transferred to the seat beside him, now that Ritsu was no longer around. It was Haru who requested so, because he really didn't like it when he's in the car with just one person sitting in the back. It made him look like a chauffeur. He preferred them sitting beside him so they could also talk.<p>

The first half of the ride was silent and awkward, although Haru couldn't quite feel it since he was too busy driving. The streets were getting even darker now, and he attempted to race against time as soon as he saw the time: 9:57. He still had to go home, take another bath, get his things fixed, and work on some paperwork before he actually goes to the call center for his shift.

But in the end, he convinced himself that he should think of safety first. He was driving with a teenage college freshman, after all. A girl, no less.

He glanced over at Mio, who was looking out the window. "What are you thinking about?" He inquired rather abruptly, causing her to flinch before she turned to look at him.

"Nothing in particular. I just feel a little sleepy already." Mio smiled, rubbing her eyes.

"There's a pillow at the back for you to use." Haru suggested. He pointed at the back without looking. He didn't want to take his eyes off of the road. "You'd better use that or you'll strain your neck."

Mio shook her head. "No, it's fine. I don't want to go to sleep yet."

He took a quick glance at her before getting back to driving again. He turned at a corner and slowed down. "We'd better get you home so you can get some rest. You still have school tomorrow, right?" He said, sounding like an older brother again. "Guide me to your place, okay?"

"Okay." Mio nodded.

And with that, Haru slowly accelerated, but not fast enough to frighten his little passenger. He smirked as he gave her another glance, seeing that she was staring far off into the road.

"By the way, Mio, Sawako told me you're a left-handed bassist." He started. He could feel her looking at him as soon as he spoke. "Now that's something we have in common."

Mio was obviously fascinated by what he said. "Really?" She asked with her eyes sparkling with complete fascination. "Does that mean you also play in a band?"

Haru shook his head. "Nope, not anymore. I only played when I was in high school. But unlike Sawako's Death Devil, my band played jazz and blues. Like, uh... John Mayer and... I don't know, Sukima Switch? Something like that." He smiled as he talked. "It often put me in the spotlight, but I didn't mind. I loved playing, especially in front of a crowd."

"I wish I had your confidence." Mio sighed. She really was pretty envious. Handling the pressure of performing in front of a crowd wasn't easy. "I've been part of Houkago Tea Time for more than three years now and I still can't perform without feeling so... I don't know, pressured?"

"Don't worry. It took me a lot of getting used to myself." Haru confessed. "You'll get the hang of it too, just as long as you remember to have fun every time you play. In the end, that's all that really matters."

Mio nodded. He was right.

An awkward silence followed. Mio glanced up at him and noticed that he was pretty serious with his driving, so she decided to just shut up and leave him alone so he wouldn't get distracted.

"Say, Mio." He suddenly said. So much for leaving him alone to drive. "What do think about me dating Sawako?"

That question made her look up at him again. This time his warm smile was nowhere to be found and he looked pretty serious as he kept driving.

It took a while, but she finally came up with a decent answer. "Well, I think it'd be great, as long as you don't intend on hurting her or anything like that." She said, suddenly sounding protective of her old teacher. "She's been hurt quite a number of times in the past already. She really doesn't need one more."

Haru couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of guy."

"Well, you seem like a really nice guy, so I'll trust you." Mio said.

He chuckled, embarrassed. "Really? Thanks. That means a lot coming from someone like you, Mio."

Mio smiled at him. She was really starting to get convinced that they had a lot more in common than being left-handed bassists. He was starting to feel like the older brother she never had.

"No problem."

* * *

><p>"Thanks again, Haru-senpai." Mio said as she waved him goodbye just outside the gate to her house. He smiled as he waved back and drove off into the night, leaving the young bassist to stare after his car until it disappeared, turning right on an intersection.<p>

She sighed in exhaustion and went back inside her house. She had a pretty long day. It ended pretty well, though. She got to spend some time with someone as cool as Takeharu.

Haru turned on the radio as he drove, feeling a little lonely now that he was alone in his car again. He turned to one of his favourite international radio stations and heard the song The Gift by Angels and Airwaves, smiling. It was one of his favourites.

_And suddenly, you've done it all._

He glanced at his phone and thought about calling Sawako. Perhaps it was about time he actually manned up and asked her out properly. But at this hour? She's probably already asleep.

_You won me over in no time at all._

"Ah, screw it." He said as he finally decided to pick up his phone so he could call her. He decelerated, but maintained a steady velocity that was still faster than walking so he could drive safely while he searched for her number on his phone. Once he stopped at a stoplight, he took the opportunity and clicked on her name on his contacts list, but suddenly hesitated.

Two options appeared on his phone: Send Message and Call Contact. Which one should he choose?

It took so long for him to decide that the lights have already turned green and he was forced to keep driving so he wouldn't have to irritate the drivers in their cars that were right behind him.

Haru sighed as he cancelled the command. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He asked himself. "I guess I'll just do it tomorrow."

He was just about to put his phone back down when it suddenly vibrated and rang. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at the screen. It was none other than Sawako.

He blinked as he stared at his phone, contemplating on why she would give him a call at a time like this.

Finally, he shook his head so he'd snap out of it and clicked, pressing his phone against his ear as he drove, keeping his eyes on the road. "Hello?"

"Haru?" He heard her say rather reluctantly from the other line.

"Yeah, what's up?" He greeted. "What can I do for you, miss?"

Sawako giggled. "Now you really sound like you work in a call center."

Haru laughed with her as he drove along. "I'll take that as a compliment." He said. "So, what's eating you?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. Mugi just called and told me what happened today." She explained. "I wanted to apologize for the trouble, too. The girls must have been a handful."

He shook his head, as if she could see him. "No, not at all. I actually had a good time."

"Oh, that's good, then."

Haru was waiting for her to say something other than what she just said, but everything was just silent. She was doing the same thing, too, just waiting for him to say something that may keep their conversation alive.

It was a long, frustratingly awkward pause.

"Hey, I..."

"I, um..."

They spoke almost at the same time, causing Haru to laugh. "You go first."

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get together sometime. You know, maybe for some coffee, or lunch, or dinner... whatever you prefer. Whenever you're not too busy." Sawako rambled, still a little embarrassed. She tried to laugh a little so she wouldn't sound like a fool. It took a lot of courage to ask him that, and inside her head she was praying he'd accept.

Haru raised his eyebrow and grinned. "Are you trying to ask me out, Miss Sawako?" He asked, asking her the question she first asked him when he tried asking her out last week.

She smirked. "It's just a friendly offer, Mr. Sato. You're free to decline."

"Well," he said. "I'd love to."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _Sorry if this took me a while. :)) I still had school, and finals are coming up and blah blah blah. I'll be having a little more time, though, now that the long weekend (Holy Week) has begun. BTW, I'd like to thank the reviewers for the second chapter of this story. Thanks a lot for continuing to read my story and for guiding me. :bd_


	4. Chapter 4: Moving Closer

**Chapter 4**

_Moving Closer_

"Good morning, sunshine. Good luck at work today."

Sawako smiled as she woke up to Haru's text at six in the morning on a lazy Friday. She could hear his voice as she read the words. He certainly knew how to put a smile on her face. It's been over a month since they started hanging out more often, but weren't exactly dating, even though they acted a lot like it.

She still couldn't really tell if Haru was still feeling nervous around her or he was just not interested enough to be more than friends with her. Either way, what they had now was still a good thing.

She swung her legs so that her feet would land on the floor, on the side of her bed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, greeting the day. She felt like it was impossible for it to be ruined, now that Haru gave her such a great start.

* * *

><p>Haru smirked as he put his cellphone down right after sending the text to Sawako, driving home from work. He desperately needed some sleep, especially since he didn't get the chance to do so the day before. He had been too busy hanging out with Sawako lately that he had forgotten that he still had himself to take care of.<p>

He wearily entered his house and threw his blazer across the room and onto his couch, followed by the peach-colored v-neck shirt that he wore underneath.

He continued undressing himself as he made his way to his room until he was only wearing his boxers. He went inside, opened his cabinet and pulled out a plain white t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, putting them on.

As soon as he finished, he picked up his phone and dialled Sawako's number, pressing it against his ear while he waited for her to answer.

Haru's place was a large, contemporary two-storey, four-bedroom residence. He and the rest of his family, which included his little sister, his big brother and his parents, used to live there half a decade ago, until his parents decide to work overseas so they could provide a better life for their children. Since his big brother decided to work at the New York Times, and his little sister was still attending NYU, the place was pretty much abandoned; the walls were decorated with cracks and water stains and the wooden floors were already old and coarse. Ever since he went back home, he has been trying his best to renovate the place and bring back its long-forgotten shine, but while he was successful in repairing the electrical circuits, so far not much has changed.

Adding up to the apartment's 'neglected attic' atmosphere was his bad habits. Empty cans of beer, as well as dirty pieces of clothing, were all over the place, and his empty dishes from last night were still dumped in the sink. A ball of takoyaki even decorated the keyboard of his open laptop, which was sitting on his couch. Probably the only thing that was in order was his car keys, which were hanging on the hook he carelessly fixed by the door.

It was pretty ironic. While Haru was great at presenting himself to other people, he just wasn't any good at keeping an entire house in check. At this rate, he might need at least five cleaning ladies before the place can be perfectly cleaned.

"Hello?" Sawako answered after three rings.

"Are you busy?" He immediately said. "You wanna hang out tonight? There's this pretty cool band that'll be playing at the Luca Label."

Sawako actually paused to think about it. She was having her breakfast when Haru suddenly called. He was developing quite the habit of asking her out on dates on such short notice. She didn't think she had a lot to do today, but being a teacher, a lot can happen in one day. One moment she's free, the other she could be busy for the rest of the night.

She'd definitely hate to have to turn him down, especially when she could imagine his expression of disappointment. He'd probably look like an abandoned puppy.

"I'll see if I can." She finally said. "If I'm free after school, I'll call you, okay?"

Haru smirked. It was almost a yes. "Okay. Have fun at work." He told her. "And be careful on your way there, okay?"

"All right, dad." She joked.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." With that, Haru laughed and ended the call, throwing his phone lightly to the bed, watching it bounce against the pillow. He followed it and leapt onto the comfort of his single bed, feeling the softness of the pillow against his face.

Probably the reason his bed felt so comfortable right now was because he was tired. It was about time he went to sleep. He still had a date later tonight with Sawako, after all.

* * *

><p>"No kidding!" Norimi gasped as she walked with Sawako. They were hanging out for lunch and somehow she managed to tell her old band-mate about Haru and how things were going really well. It really hasn't been that way for a while, after all.<p>

"Keep your voice down!" She shushed her.

Norimi just laughed and kept looking at her. This was great news, knowing Sawako. She was expecting to tell her more than just his name and the fact that she's been hanging out with him for weeks now.

"You'll let us play at your wedding, right?" Norimi joked, causing her friend to blush furiously.

"We're still just hanging out!" Sawako insisted. She then sighed and looked up, tilting her head slightly. "Still, I can't tell if we're already dating or just hanging out or anything at all."

Norimi raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" She said. "I mean, he's always taking you out on dates, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. He even asked me out again tonight. This time at the Luca Label. He said there's a cool band that's going to play." Sawako said. "It's just that we really haven't done anything that'll confirm that we're more than friends, you know? Like, hold hands or just show any affection at all."

Norimi could only nod. She understood her friend's predicament. She was longing for a little more affection since she really hasn't gotten any from a guy for a while now, or ever. "Yeah, it'd be great if this Haru guy stopped leading you on and actually made a move for a change." She suddenly laughed. "But I'm sure he's just getting cold feet. Girls like us, we're pretty hard to handle. Am I right or am I right?"

She wrapped an arm around Sawako's shoulder as they walked, and she could only laugh in reply. She was right, after all. "Yeah, but we don't need to put labels on everything, right? I wouldn't want us to move too fast anyway."

Sawko still hasn't told Haru about her high school days, when she was still a member of Death Devil. She wondered what his reaction would be if she told him. A secret like that was a secret for a reason, after all. Would he laugh at her, would he run in terror, or would he stay despite becoming aware of that?

Norimi suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. "Hey, how about you take me with you to watch that gig tonight? We can have, like, a double date!"

Sawako looked up at her. That sounded insane, but the idea wasn't really that bad. Being around more people will prevent almost everything from being awkward.

"Well, I don't think Haru would mind." She told Norimi. "But are you sure about this? Will it be okay with Shinji?"

She thought of Norimi's fiancé, Shinji, who was also pretty busy himself working as the manager of one of their favourite bars, Guerrilla Radio. With an invitation this late and this sudden, there's a huge chance that he won't be able to make it.

Norimi smirked at her friend, as if she doesn't know her at all. "Of course it'll be okay. It's not every day we get to be in a double date with you, Sawako." She said. "He'll come."

"All right, then. I'll just tell Haru later."

"How about now?" Norimi suggested.

Sawako looked at Norimi before realizing that it wouldn't be a bad idea either to tell him as early as now. "I guess it wouldn't hurt." She said as she pulled her cellphone out of her purse. "Let's see."

Norimi acted quickly and swiped it as soon as it exited her friend's bag, flipping it open and looking for Haru's number. "Hello, is this Takeharu?" She greeted after pressing the thing against her ear. He answered after the fifth ring, and Norimi could still hear him yawning.

Haru was sleeping peacefully on the edge of his bed when he received the wake-up call. He was going to decline it, but as soon as he saw Sawako's name, he just couldn't do it.

"What the heck are you doing?" Sawako demanded, but still whispering. Norimi completely ignored her.

"Yes, this is he." Haru answered a bit lethargically, groaning before he continued. "Is that you, Sawako? You sound weird."

Norimi smirked as she glanced over at Sawako, who was nervous as hell. "Good afternoon. This is Norimi, one of Sawako's friends. I just wanted to ask you something, if that's okay with you." She told him, as if he really had a choice. He yawned again, urging her to go on. "She told me about your little night out later and I was wondering if my fiancé and I can come with you guys tonight so we can have a double date. Will that be okay with you?"

It took a while before Haru answered. _Then does that mean Sawako's really going tonight? _"Oh, sure. Of course it's fine." He said, blinking. "It'd be a pleasure to meet Sawako's friends."

"That's good." She nodded. "Well, that's pretty much it. Sorry for bothering you, Haru, whatever you're doing. We'll see you tonight."

"Yeah, sure." He groaned.

With that, Norimi clicked to end the call, leaving the person on the other line to stare blankly at his phone. It looks like what just happened still hasn't registered into his head. He looked like he was still dreaming as he stared at it before finally letting it fall beside him, and in less than a minute, he drifted back to sleep, dreaming of pies once again.

"What did he say?" Sawako inquired.

Norimi looked at her impishly. She could tell just how anxious Sawako was to know. "He agreed. Said it'd be a pleasure meeting Sawako's friends. Ignoring the drowsy sounds he was making, he sounds pretty nice."

"That's because he was sleeping when you called." Sawako explained with a sigh. "You should have just texted him."

"That's the point. I called him using your phone. I was checking if you were important enough to him that he'd answer a wake-up call from you." Norimi pointed out, as if she knew him better than Sawako did. "Now that it's clear, I want you to do me a favour."

Sawako blinked. She had a bad feeling about this. "What is it?"

"Tonight, I want you to ask him just what the heck is going on between you two and put an end to your little game." She said. "You seriously can't expect it to go on like this, can you? Not knowing what you guys really are."

"I suppose not." Sawako thought about it. It'd really be nice if she was given a little clarity on this relationship.

"That's my girl." Norimi patted her on the head, giggling.

* * *

><p>It was nine in the evening when Haru pulled over in front of the building where Sawako lived, where she had been waiting patiently for about five minutes.<p>

After unlocking the car doors and opening the one that led to the seat next to him, he smiled at her and helped her as she climbed up and let her purse rest on her lap. She was smiling back, but somehow there was something really weird about her this time.

Haru just shrugged it off and started driving again, the smile still on his young face. He must be seeing things. "How was work today?" He asked her.

"Oh, it was okay. I had a lot more to do than usual, though." She sighed. She then looked up at him, noticing how serious he looked when he drove. It was the kind of face that made you want to just stop talking and leave the man to do what he's doing, for the love of God.

"What about you?" She still asked. Screw that.

She also just noticed that he was wearing only a black and gray baseball shirt underneath a brown leather jacket with jeans and blue Keds. This was probably the first time she's seen him wear something so casual.

"Ah, let's see." Haru twisted his mouth. "It was good, too, I guess. Today was a bit busier for me too. Must be a Friday thing."

She just nodded in reply.

"By the way, where will we be meeting Norimi-chan and her fiancé?" He asked her.

"Oh, his name is Shinji, by the way, and they're over at the Guerrilla Radio Bar."

"I see."

Sawako nodded again. "Yeah. You know where it is?"

"Yeah, I've been there a couple of times." He said. "Nice place. But why there, though? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's because Shinji works as the manager there." She explained.

And Haru could only nod. It wasn't long before they arrived at their stop, and both of them saw that the bar was still open. There was an alternative rock band playing inside, but the sound was muffled since the two of them were listening from the outside. There weren't a lot of people, at least not yet anyway; it was probably because the performers weren't that famed, and it was still pretty early.

Haru pulled over at the empty parking space in front of the building and turned off the engine, turning to his female companion.

"That's weird." Sawako said, checking her phone if Norimi left her any messages, but there was none. "Where could they be?"

Haru sat back and sighed tiredly. "It's okay. I can wait."

Sawako just sat there, wondering about her friend and her fiancé, trying her best to look worried. Haru was probably right, but she felt like she needed to seem occupied just thinking about them so he wouldn't have to ask if she was okay. She learned he could be quite observant; the quality must come with being an engineer and all. He must have already noticed how weird she's been acting since she got in the car.

She was never really that good at hiding her feelings, after all.

"Hey, are you okay, Sawako? You're being a little weird." Haru said straight up, but still looking worried.

_Damn_.

"Oh, what are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine!" Sawako said almost too loudly, laughing nervously and definitely being weird. "Yep. That's right. Nothing weird here."

Haru sighed again. "Man, I never really knew how much you suck at lying 'til now." He looked her straight in the eye, which made it really hard for her to look away. "Come on. Is something up? You can tell me." He insisted.

Sawako cowered at his gaze and tried to think of something smart to say. Would she really have to ask him that question now, before the night even begins?

Suddenly, she sees something outside the car, right behind Haru. It was...

"Norimi."

"Norimi?" He repeated. Haru raised an eyebrow, confused. "What? Is she the problem? Is she the reason you're acting so weird?"

Sawako shook her head and pointed outside. "No, it's Norimi. She's here."

Haru turned around and saw that Norimi and her fiancé were indeed already there, waiting just outside the car, smiling at the two of them. He immediately pressed the button that unlocked the doors and beckoned for the two of them to come inside, which they did.

"Sorry 'bout that. Have you been waiting long?" She asked as she pulled the door open and stepped inside the Innova, followed by Shinji.

Haru shook his head, smiling. "No, it's all right. We've only just arrived anyway." He extended his hand to her and Shinji for quick handshakes. "It's nice to finally meet you. The name's Takeharu. Takeharu Sato. Call me Haru."

Norimi gave a surprised look as she sat down, being able to lay eyes on Takeharu for the first time. _Damn. _She thought. _Sawako really picked out a good one, even though he was a bit thinner than normal._

"Likewise. I'm Norimi Kawaguchi." She said, pointing to herself and then Shinji, who smiled at Haru as a greeting. "This is my fiancé, Shinji Sawada."

"Nice to meet you." Shinji said.

"You know, Sawako told me you were handsome, but I never expected you to be this handsome, Haru-kun." Norimi grinned as she glanced over at Sawako, who could only let out an embarrassed laugh.

Haru laughed at what she said, getting pretty embarrassed himself. "You flatter me, Miss Norimi." He even glanced at Shinji, who looked pretty calm as he watched the three of them. Haru was worried that with what Norimi just said, there's a chance Shinji might beat the crap out of him right then and there.

Fortunately enough, Shinji wasn't the jealous type. And he was well aware that his fiancée was only being friendly. He closed the door after sitting down and Haru glanced at the back, locking the doors again.

Haru cleared his throat and checked if everyone was fine in their seats, giving Sawako a lingering gaze to remind her that he still hasn't forgotten about what he noticed before Norimi and Shinji arrived.

"All right," He said, now looking forward. "Off we go."

* * *

><p>The Luca Label was already packed with people when Haru pulled over at the last available parking space in front of the bar. The place was already lit up, and the music can already be heard from blocks away, even though the band was only playing acoustic. People kept coming and going.<p>

He unlocked the doors and watched as Sawako hurried out along with Norimi, leaving only him and Shinji, as they excitedly made their way into the bar to experience all the action.

Haru could only shrug it off. He waited for Shinji to get out of the car and shut the door before he came out himself.

Shinji laughed as he walked to the spot next to Haru. "You know, I was told this was going to be a double date." He said. "If this is their idea of a double date, then the night just got really weird."

"Well, at least the ladies are having fun." Haru laughed, putting the keys in his pocket. "Wanna drink before watching?" He offered.

"Sure, sounds good." Shinji replied, following Haru into the bar.

The Luca Label was large and classy, a great place for people who just want to listen to good music while having a nice, expensive. The place was filled with comfortable loungers, ottomans, and circular banquettes, so that guests who came in large groups could feel like they were having their own little party at every table.

Shinji and Haru stepped inside with their eyes scanning the place for the two girls who left them. There were so many people, plus the place was dimly lit. All they could see clearly were the pastel-colored drinks that glowed in the darkness along with the sets of candles on each individual table, as well as the band that played on the stage.

"Where could they be?" Haru said, still looking around.

Suddenly, Shinji felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and immediately picked it up, flipping it open. It was a text message from Norimi.

_Table #23 ;)_, was all it said.

He blinked as he stared at the text before finally tapping Haru's shoulder to get his attention. "Norimi told me they're at Table 23." He said, scratching his bald head. "Do you have any idea where that is?"

"Oh, yeah." Haru said. "Follow me."

And indeed Shinji did. It wasn't that long before they finally found the girls, who were already sitting at a round table for four, chatting.

"Hey," Haru greeted.

Norimi and Sawako looked up at them. "Hey, what took you guys so long?" Norimi said.

Haru took a seat next to Sawako while Shinji sat beside Norimi, of course. The band was already playing an acoustic cover of the Cure's Boys Don't Cry in the background.

"We just weren't as excited as you girls were." Said Shinji.

Norimi laughed. "Sorry about that." She turned to Haru. "I gotta say, this is a nice place. A bit hard on the wallet, but still, very nice. Do you come here often?"

"Yeah, it's one of my favourite places in the city." He said. "A lot of great bands play here."

The cocktail waitress suddenly appeared in front of their table, immediately recognizing Takeharu and giving him the most pathetic flirtatious smile. Haru was a regular at the Luca Label, so he knew most of the employees. Or more like most of the employees knew him. Norimi rolled her eyes, thinking it was the lamest thing she has ever seen. "Hey there, Haru," She said, "How have you been?"

"Hey, Kana." Haru greeted back. "I'm great, thanks. How about you?"

Kana giggled. "Same, same. By the way, there's a lot of rumour spreading around about how you and your band are going to play here for some sort of reunion performance. Is that true?"

Haru raised an eyebrow and scoffed upon hearing that. It was probably the dumbest rumour he has ever heard in a while. He shook his head. "That's crazy. All my bandmates are working overseas now, so that's kind of impossible." He said. "And I don't play anymore, so yeah. Where'd you hear that?"

"I don't know. Around?" Kana shrugged. "Too bad, though. It would have been great if you played." She glanced at the other three, who were all staring up at her. "Anyway," she cleared her throat. "What can I get you?"

"Appletini, please." Norimi said immediately. She then waved a hand in front of Sawako's face, causing her to snap back to reality after spacing out. "I-I'll have a Cosmo, please." She mumbled.

Haru nodded, turning to Shinji now. "What about you, man?"

"I'll have a Bellini." He told Haru.

Haru then smiled up at Kana. "Make that two Bellinis, then. And put everything on my tab."

Kana then hurried away to fetch their drinks, leaving the four to all look at each other before the three of them finally looked at Haru.

"What is it?" He blinked.

"I didn't know you were also in a band, Haru." Norimi pried, leaning on the table. "What instrument did you play?"

"I played bass. It's no big deal, I'm not that good anway." Haru laughed off, being ever so modest. He didn't seem to like talking about his time with his band or the fact that he played a musical instrument. A normal guy would have bragged about it, especially to a bunch of shallow, pretty girls. Guess he was different.

He then pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from his pocket and sloppily slipped one between his lips, offering Shinji some. "Thanks." He said as he took one.

Sawako looked at Haru. She didn't know he smoked. It was the first time she saw him do this since they met.

Haru lit himself up with his Zippo, which was engraved with his initials, and handed it over to Shinji, who did the same. He then exhaled the smoke to the side, so as not to disturb the ladies with all the bad air.

Suddenly Shinji felt Norimi's heel against his toe as soon as he took a long drag from his cigarette, causing him to cough out smoke as he looked at her. "What is it?" He asked, and immediately cowered as he saw her glare. She was telepathically daring him to take another drag.

He reached for the ashtray and laughed nervously as he killed the cigarette. What a waste. Haru laughed as he looked at them, especially Norimi, who was giggling, acting as if everything was okay.

Another cocktail waitress then arrived at their table and served them their drinks. Sawako immediately took a quick sip upon receiving her Cosmopolitan.

"Whoa, easy there, Sawako." Said Norimi, doing the same with her Appletini. "There's enough to go around."

"Speak for yourself." Shinji laughed.

The band just finished the song and the four of them heard everyone in the bar clapping their hands and cheering for another song. Haru sighed as he watched them, getting all nostalgic. This felt almost the same as when he played with his band during high school, when they scored their first free gig. He remembered being so nervous that he almost forgot everything he learned on the night of the performance.

"Ah, this brings back memories, doesn't it, Sawako?" Norimi sighed dreamily. "I wish we can get to play like that again."

Sawako only laughed nervously, casting a warning glance at Norimi, telling her not to go any further. She didn't seem to get the message.

Norimi turned to Haru. "I bet you didn't know Sawako here used to be an amazing guitarist back in high school! She was even a singer!"

Sawako was shaking her head, getting all hysterical. Her face was turning red, which made Haru stare at her. He pretended to look surprised as he smiled at Norimi. "Really? I didn't know that." He said. "Was she in some sort of rock band too?"

"N-No! It's just..." Sawako desperately struggled to find the words. It really was no use now.

"Oh, come on, Sawako, don't be so shy about it." Norimi nudged her friend's arm. "You were amazing!" She said. She then turned to Haru again. "We even performed just recently, during one of our batchmates' wedding reception. She still hasn't lost her touch."

"I'd love to see you guys play sometime." Haru eagerly told Sawako. "Do you guys still play?"

Sawako hesitated, but answered his question anyway. It was no use trying to hide it from him now. All she could do was hope that the fact wouldn't scare him away. "We still keep and touch and even hang out whenever we have the time. But we don't play anymore." She managed to say. "We're just too busy now."

"Oh, that's too bad." Haru nodded.

She suddenly stood up, pulling Norimi along with her. "We're just going to use the ladies' room. Please excuse us." She said, laughing it off.

Haru and Shinji could only watch them as they left, and then looked at each other. Shinji shrugged and laughed, taking a sip from his champagne flute. "Women. Go figure."

* * *

><p>Norimi put the lid down on the toilet seat and sat down. Luckily, the two of them were the only ones in the ladies' room since everyone else was too busy watching the band outside. At least this way, they could talk without worrying about being bothered by anyone, especially by Haru and Shinji.<p>

"What's up? You don't seem like yourself at all tonight." She told Sawako, who was busy brushing her hair in front of the mirror, staring blankly at her reflection.

Sawako then looked down at her feet. "I'm not sure if I should ask him that question tonight." She said. "I mean, what if his answer isn't what I expect?"

Norimi sighed. She should have known. This was about a boy, after all. It was only natural for Sawako to be so expectant and anxious and scared all at the same time. Even if Haru hasn't disappointed her so far, there was a chance that he might do that tonight, when he answers her question.

She shrugged. "Then Shinji and I will be here for you." She said. "Besides, you keep expecting the worst. Try to trust Haru a little. He looks like a really nice guy."

"And he is." Sawako looked at her. "And I trust him. I don't know. I just feel really nervous. It's not all the time I get to meet a guy like him. Sometimes I think he's just too good to be true. I mean, this whole thing's too good to be true. If it is true, then it's just too good to last."

Norimi then stood up and flung an arm around her friend's shoulder, grinning at their reflection in the mirror. Suddenly it was high school all over again. "Want me and Shinji to give you two some time alone?"

Sawako shook her head. "No, don't. Please. That'd make things ten times more awkward."

"Fine." She sighed. "Just try to look for an opportunity and take it. Don't worry, I'll be helping you out."

Sawako smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

><p>"They sure are taking their sweet time." Shinji told Haru impatiently, tapping his foot as he glanced over at his wristwatch. They had already talked about college and IBA cocktails while the girls were away, and now they were pretty much out of things to discuss.<p>

Haru snickered as he looked at Shinji, taking along drag from his third cigarette and slowly blowing out the smoke. They had been waiting for about more than fifteen minutes already, and as much as they both understood that all women were like this, they just couldn't help but get a little impatient.

Still, they really had no choice but to wait. Girls will be girls.

"Say, Sawada-san," Haru started, leaning on the table. "How long have you and Norimi been dating before you, you know... popped the question?"

Shinji put a hand on his chin and actually thought about it. "About two years, I guess. It's been three months since I proposed." He said.

Haru nodded, acknowledging what he said. He didn't even know why he suddenly asked Shinji a question like that. Perhaps to have something to talk about, but why did it have to be proposals all of a sudden? It made him feel like a total idiot.

"What about you and Sawako?" Shinji inquired. "How long have you two been dating? Do you plan on proposing to her already?"

Suddenly Haru's face turned bright red, but Shinji really couldn't notice it because place was a little dark. It took a while before he finally answered. "Ah, no." He shook his head. "To tell you the truth, I can't even tell if we're already dating."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Yeah, I know it's stupid, but I don't know, man." Haru tried to defend himself, but to no avail. "I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Well, you'd better figure that out soon. Don't wait until she's gone before you actually figure things out." Shinji recommended. "Girls like Sawako and Norimi, they're pretty hard to handle. You may have not figured that out yet, but you will as soon as you find out exactly what you two are doing."

"Really." Haru blinked. He swallowed that lump on his throat. Suddenly everything was a lot scarier than before. Now he was even more nervous.

"Really." Shinji repeated.

Haru then cleared his throat and carelessly stood up, grabbing his pack of cigarettes. Suddenly he felt guilty and nervous and just everything bad. "Um, I... I think I need to go outside for some air." He struggled to say. "I'll be right back."

Shinji could only watch the younger one as he left the table, heading for the fire exit that lead up to the rooftop, shrugging the whole thing off. Guys like Haru were way too uptight. He needed to loosen up.

And somehow, like some sort of perfect sense of timing, the girls returned to the table, smiling at Shinji as they sat down. "Where's Haru?" Sawako asked, looking around.

"Went out for some air." Shinji answered plainly.

"Oh, okay." Norimi said. She then whispered to Sawako, "That's good. Take the time to prepare."

And Sawako gave her friend a quick nod. She really did need a lot of mental and emotional preparation. She quietly said a little prayer as she asked the gods for a little more courage.

May this night not suck so bad that she has to weep about it for months and lock herself away from love forever.

* * *

><p>Sawako glanced over at her wristwatch. It read 11:32. The show was almost over, but Haru still hasn't returned to their table. The bar wasn't as crowded as it was when they arrived, and the band was already singing the last couple of songs on their setlist.<p>

She looked over to Norimi and Shinji, who were both still busy listening to the band while enjoying their drinks. They were holding hands as they did so, making Sawako a little envious. She was starting to look like a third wheel in this little date now that Haru abandoned her for some so-called air. She was getting impatient. Just where could he be and what could be taking him so long?

Shinji could feel a hand tapping his lap. He looked up and saw that it was Sawako. "Where did Haru say he went again?" She asked him.

"Yeah." Norimi said. "He still hasn't returned, has he?"

"I saw him climb up the fire exit." Shinji answered her. "He took his cigarettes with him. He must still be smoking up there." He found it pretty ironic; Haru smoking up the fire exit.

"I see." Sawako said, standing up and grabbing her purse. "I'll go check on him."

Norimi smirked. She knew just what Sawako was up to now. This is the moment of truth. She looked up at her and gave her a reassuring smile, somehow letting her know that no matter what happens up there, the two of them will be down here.

Sawako smiled back as she walked towards the fire exit. She sighed before climbing up the stairs. This is it.

* * *

><p>"Haru?" Sawako called as she opened the door to the rooftop. She looked around for any signs of who she's looking for and as expected, there he was, sitting with his back against the wall, smoking a cigarette while holding a can of Coors.<p>

She walked over to where he was and he looked up at her, giving her a blank stare. "There you are." She sighed. "Everyone's looking for you."

Yeah, right. You were the only one looking for him.

"Ah, sorry about that." He groaned. He then slowly tried to stand up, still leaning against the wall. "I didn't notice the time. It just felt so relaxing, sitting all alone here. Not much, but it's like my own private heaven."

"Mind if I join you?" Sawako inquired, tucking her long, brown hair behind her ear as she sat down next to him.

Haru looked down at her as she sat down and he sat back down again, gulping down his beer until there was nothing left. He then put out his cigarette and put it inside the empty can, dumping it on the spot next to him.

"You're right." Sawako said. "This is pretty relaxing."

They could still hear the band playing downstairs, and sat in silence as they felt the cold, yet gentle breeze. Haru was smiling as he closed his eyes, absorbing the good music that was hovering over the air along with the coldness. The beer was making his head feel ten times lighter.

He then leaned back, slightly raising his chin. "Say, Sawako... what do you think of me?" He inquired.

Sawako turned to him and stared blankly at him. It was a pretty broad question, and besides, she could go on for days if she was going to answer him specifically. Was he even being serious or was he just drunk, thinking aloud?

"Hmm... I think you're nice." She said. Might as well answer a broad question with a vague answer. He'd probably be too drunk now to remember anything tomorrow anyway.

"Nice, eh?" Haru smiled, almost mocking the answer. "Everybody thinks I'm nice." Sawako really had no idea how wrong she was.

Her eyes then widened as soon as she felt Haru's hand creep down so he could hold hers. His skin felt so cold and his hand was shaking, must be from all the beer, but the feeling it gave her was warm. She really had no choice but to let him hold her. This is probably the first time he has ever shown any affection since they both started hanging out.

But then she hesitated and put her hands on her lap, causing Haru to look down at her again.

"Hey, I have something to ask you." She said, staring at her hands.

He raised his eyebrows. "Sure, what is it?"

"This... this thing. What are we doing exactly?" She struggled to say before she hesitantly looked him the eyes. She could tell that the question confused him, but she waited for a serious nevertheless.

Haru blinked. _Is this the reason she's been acting weird all night? _

"We're sitting on the rooftop, talking. Hanging out." He said plainly.

Sawako sighed. Thank you, Captain Obvious. He was clearly drunk now. Would it still be worth it if she insisted that he answer the question properly? "No, that's not what I meant." She said, shaking her head. "I mean... what are we? What are we doing? Are we dating, or are we just hanging out? Are we still just friends? Tell me."

She waited for an answer, but nothing but a long, uncomfortable pause came. She looked up at Haru again, and she found him sitting there, just staring at her. He didn't look like he was going to answer anytime soon.

"You're probably too drunk now. Maybe I'll just ask you again some other time." She sighed. She then started to stand up, but she felt Haru's moist hand on her wrist, stopping her, and she sat back down.

Haru chuckled as she sat next to him again. "I was kidding." He said. "I've been wondering about the answer to that question myself, actually. I mean... do we really have to put labels on everything?"

The band was playing an original song, Moving Closer, now. It kind of fit their little scene pretty well. It was as if everything had turned into a romantic scene in a movie and the perfect background song was playing.

_When you smile, everything's in place.  
><em>_I've waited so long, there can be no mistake.  
><em>_All I am, reaching out to you.  
><em>_Can't be scared, gotta make a move._

"Not necessarily. I just don't want to get my hopes up and get serious when you're actually just fooling around." She told him. "That could happen."

He nodded. "Yeah, it could." He said. "Look, there's just a lot on my mind. I just didn't want to rush things. We were having so much fun. We were having such a great time hanging out. I didn't want to ruin it by... you know, rushing before you were actually ready." He smirked as he took her hand again. "It was fine with me. I could've waited if you wanted to take things slow. I'm can be very patient when I want to."

_While we're young, come away with me.  
><em>_Keep me close and don't let go._

Sawako couldn't believe what she was hearing. Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, escape from reality...

_Snap out of it, Sawako!_ She thought as she shook her head. This is definitely not the time to be singing Bohemian Rhapsody in her head. _What the hell is wrong with you?_

"I... I don't know what to say."

Haru kissed her forehead. "It's okay." He said. "I like you a lot, Sawako, so whatever you want to do from here on out, I'm with you."

_Inch by inch, we're moving closer.  
><em>_Feels like a fairy tale ending.  
><em>_Take my heart, this is the moment.  
><em>_I'm moving closer to you._

Sawako closed her eyes and let him hold her for a little while longer. Everything was suddenly so warm and reassuring. It was all so new to her.

But Haru didn't settle for just amazing. He made it even more amazing by looking down at her, tucking her brown hair behind her ear and removing her glasses. She was a lot prettier without them, anyway.

Suddenly she trembled. Was he doing what she thinks he's doing?

_I'm moving closer to you._

Haru leaned in and gave her lips a light peck, causing her to blush. He looked at her and smiled, assuring her that there was nothing to be anxious about. He planted another kiss, this time lasting longer than the last, and she reluctantly kissed back, even though she didn't quite know how to do it. He could feel her getting more nervous, and so he did it ever so gently, slowly robbing her of her senses. She could taste the bitterness of the beer and tobacco in his mouth, but strangely, it was the sweetest thing she has ever tasted.

She has never felt so safe. So this is what it felt like to have someone return your feelings. It was amazing. She was praying he'd never let her go.

He let himself fall back she could gently push him down while they kept their lips in contact with one another. She was being surprisingly dominant, which Haru really didn't mind since it saved him from having to teach her what to do. He was smiling as they kissed, and she could feel the corners of her lips curling up.

Sawako then pulled away, blushing. Haru chuckled at the sight of it, causing her to giggle too, and she lay right beside him, resting her head on his sturdy shoulder.

"So..." Haru stared up at the empty sky. "Did that clarify things?"

She smiled. "Maybe. I might need another kiss."

Haru laughed and kissed her again, this time on her forehead. "I love you, Sawa-chan." He mumbled before he actually started to feel the alcohol in his head. He was laughing for no reason. Sawako giggled as she pressed her forehead against his. Even in his drunken state, he was still the most adorable thing in the world.

So everything did turn out as she expected.

She breathed in his scent, which also reeked, letting out a faint whiff of beer. "I love you too." She whispered.

* * *

><p>"I love... I love... BACON!"<p>

Haru screamed himself awake as he snapped back to reality and away from his dreamland full of bacon. He looked around and realized that he was still at the rooftop of the Luca Label, at eight in the morning, with Sawako sleeping soundly right beside him.

He looked up and sighed. So last night really did happen. The rays of the sun caused him to wince and cover his eyes with one arm. It felt like he was being attacked by one giant laser. The hangover was just starting to sink in.

He glanced over at Sawako, who was using his leather jacket as a blanket. She was still fast asleep, purring as she snuggled next to him, hugging his arm. Her hair was a little frayed. He kissed her forehead again as he leaned back, still struggling to absorb everything that happened last night.

_Ha, I can't believe it. I kissed her last night._

"H... Haru?" She mumbled, her eyes fluttering open.

Haru couldn't help but grin. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good morning, sunshine. Did you sleep well?"

"Y-Yeah... kind of." Sawako rubbed her eyes, looking around for her glasses. They were sitting on top of his empty beer can from last night, and he quickly picked them up, giving them back to her.

She closed her eyes and opened them after her specs found themselves over her eyes again. "What time is it?" She asked him.

Haru took a quick glance at his wristwatch. "8:06."

"What?" She screamed out, just realizing that it was already morning, and that she didn't actually sleep in her own apartment, but instead at the rooftop of the Luca Label. She mentally cursed herself, along with Norimi and Shinji, for not even bothering to fetch them and take them home.

Sawako started fixing herself, and Haru stared up at her, still staggered. She dropped his jacket on the ground, not even bothering to pick it up as she started wearing her flats, hurriedly hopping on one foot as she did so.

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" She kept shouting.

She then fixed her glasses one last time before she started sprinting track team style into the fire exit and out of the bar, leaving an even more dumbfounded Takeharu staring after her, wondering just what the hell happened.

Sawako felt like she was racing against time as she kept her incredibly rapid pace. She leapt over a short fence and turned quickly on an intersection, barely making it before the lights turned red again on the pedestrian lane. She ran a little further until she finally lunged forward and came to a full stop after performing a quick roll in front of the gates of Sakuragaoka High, surprising a couple of spectators. Her eyes were glowing with a terrifying fire.

Her head snapped up and she looked at the gate. It was locked. The school was closed. One corner of her mouth twitched up in shock.

Suddenly her phone rang. It was Haru. "H-Hello?" She answered, still staring at the empty school.

Haru sighed over the other line. He had just unlocked the doors and stepped inside his Innova. He found no sign of Norimi and Shinji, so he assumed they have already made their way home and he drove off, heading for Sakuragaoka High.

"Sweetie, it's Saturday. You don't have work on Saturdays." He said plainly. "Hang on, I'll pick you up."

Sawako stared at her phone. _Crap._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _So that's the product of my long weekend right there. Reviews, both positive and negative, are still welcome. :) And do hold on to your panties because this isn't the end of this story. In fact, it's only the beginning. I hope you guys continue to tune in. :bd_

_By the way, about that song, Moving Closer; it's actually from a new local band, Never the Strangers, which is also the new theme song for Close-Up. It's a really nice song, and if you listen to it, you might also think that it fit that rooftop scene pretty well. Here's a link to the official music video: /5Gr-ZMV8F2o. _

_And stay tuned to Wild Rock. :bd_


	5. Chapter 5: The Law of Equivalency

**Chapter 5**

_The Law of Equivalency_

"Good morning, Miss Sawa—wait, what?"

Azusa gaped at the sight of her music teacher as she ran into her in the hallways of the second floor on a Monday morning. Her eyebrow twitched up in shock. Sawako was smiling as she walked, but something felt completely different about her. Suddenly everything felt like the intro to the American film Legally Blonde, where they played the song Perfect Day and everyone was getting busy, getting ready and being all happy, but in this case, the only one doing that was her. It certainly looked like nothing was going to ruin their teacher's seemingly perfect day.

"She's glowing. Literally." Jun whispered to Azusa as they passed by her. They watched her as she made her way to her homeroom class, still wearing that smile.

The two of them heard someone from the other end of the hallway gasp. "My eyes!" She exclaimed.

_What on earth is going on?_ Azusa asked herself. Things were getting weirder and weirder every day.

Sawako had been glowing like this for the past few weeks, with no one knowing exactly why. She's always in a good mood, even during after school club activities, when she's having tea with the Light Music Club. Not that it was a bad thing; it was just really, really weird.

The whole thing went on even up to fourth period, after recess, and Sawako was still shining radiantly, as if she was some sort of artificial sun. The whole thing was driving Azusa crazy. Normally, things like this were okay with her, but her eyes have had enough. Sawako was literally blinding the poor girl with her luminosity. She couldn't take it anymore!

She stood up from her seat, throwing one hand up in the air. "Please excuse me!" She exclaimed with an awkward vacant expression on her little face. She didn't even wait for her teacher's permission. She just stomped out of the classroom in the middle of the lecture.

If this goes on any further, she's going to have to bring a pair of sunglasses every day at school.

"What's up with you, Azusa? You've been acting weird since this morning." Jun observed as she took a bite off of her rice ball.

Eventually lunch came, the hour-long break that Sakuragaoka High gave its girls every day after sixth period, and as usual, Jun, Azusa and Ui were having lunch together in their classroom. Ui was looked concerned as she stared at Azusa, waiting for an answer while Jun kept nibbling on her lunch.

She blinked and looked at the two of them. "Am I the only here who thinks that Sawako-sensei's radiance is getting troublesome?"

"Probably." Jun said plainly.

"Well, I haven't really seen her so happy since I first came here, so I can't really consider it a bad thing. And I don't mind the glowing." Ui said. "Sawako-sensei and Haru-chan are dating now, after all."

Jun laughed. "Yeah, it's like some sort of Nirvana for Miss Sawa-chan."

Azusa hung her head. "It's not that I don't want to see her happy. It's just... it's just so distracting. It's good that she's always in a great mood, I just wish she'd turn off the lights."

Jun dropped a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Azusa-chan. You'll understand how she feels when you get your own boyfriend... or girlfriend."

"What?"

"I can't help but wonder, though," Ui leaned on the table, completely ignoring how red Azusa's face was turning because of what Jun just said. "Is Haru-chan just as happy?"

Jun suddenly looked at her. "Well, of course. Sawa-chan sensei's awesome."

Ui laughed and waved it off. "No, that's not what I meant. I was wondering if he's also so happy that he's glowing just like Sawako-sensei." She said. "He may live just next door, but I don't get to see him that often."

"Yeah, I can imagine him being like some head-over-heels dork. I mean, I even heard he almost always sends her flowers. The other teachers say her desk's starting to look like a garden." Jun giggled, actually thinking about it too. "He must be really happy with her."

* * *

><p>"What the hell is this?"<p>

Haru scratched his head, extremely devastated.

He was still wearing only his boxers and a white tank top. He was dreaming of ice cream when the doorbell was raped, being pressed over and over again for about five minutes. He looked down at the busted CPU that one of his co-workers and close friends, Yuji Hisaka, was carrying as he stood in front of his door. The damn thing was rusty, and was still discharging smoke. Haru had a bad feeling that he was here because he wanted him to fix it.

"Come on in." He ended up saying as he led Yuji inside. There was no need to explain or tell him that he didn't want to. He knew it'd be no use.

Yuji took off his sandals as he entered his friend's house, surprised with the sudden spotlessness. Everything was in order, as in everything. Even the piece of gum that Yuji threw at the ceiling last week was nowhere to be found.

He blinked. He didn't understand. He was just here a week ago, and it wasn't half as clean as it was now, although it still wasn't perfectly tidy. Was Haru so drunk over the weekend that he decided to clean his house? _What the hell._

"What, is this even your place?" Yuji raised an eyebrow as he followed his friend into the bedroom, dropping the machine on the floor.

Haru shook his head. He knew Yuji would comment on the apartment's refreshing new ambience. He couldn't blame him, the place felt a lot weirder to him too now that it was clean. "I hired a cleaning lady. It was a team effort, though." He said. "It took us the whole weekend to get the place fixed."

"What made you suddenly want to clean everything up?" Yuji sat on the bed.

"I figured it wouldn't hurt." He said casually. He couldn't say, 'I cleaned up the house because one of these days my girlfriend is going to have to come over and I don't want her to think that I'm some messy idiot' because he knew Yuji would just laugh at him and tease him about it for weeks. He didn't even know that Haru and Sawako were now officially dating. Haru figured he didn't have to tell him about it and wanted him to find out about it himself.

Yuji scoffed at the unconvincing answer. "So you just woke up one morning and finally realized that your apartment was one giant mess?" He laughed. "Oh, that is rich, Haru. Maybe the next time I come here you'll have stuffed animals and Justin Bieber CDs."

"Shut up." Haru chuckled and threw one of his dirty shirts at his face. He then walked over to the miserably damaged CPU casing and stared at it. "Now is this what's so urgent that you had to wake me up?" He told Yuji. "What did you do to it this time?"

Haru crossed his arms as he watched his friend laugh in embarrassment. Yuji was notorious for being incredibly careless, especially around his gadgets. Since he didn't attend some fancy Ivy League University like Haru did, he was several positions lower, and worked as an operator, someone who initially answers calls and provide general information, while Haru was part of the Engineering Department. Three weeks ago, he asked Haru to fix his PSP; the X and O buttons were destroyed because he put too much feeling into playing Tekken. He managed to fix the damn thing in the end, but still charged for the pieces he replaced. Now Yuji was back, this time with a much bigger problem, and Haru didn't even want to know how he managed to destroy such an expensive and durable machine, from HP, no less.

"You do realize that I'm charging you extra for this, right?" Haru told him. "Look at the damage. This is ridiculous, even for you."

"You're kidding!" Yuji screamed, dreading the thought. Haru was about to fix the HP Pavilion HPE Phoenix h9z series desktop CPU that was bought for him for his 21st birthday two years ago, and considering its jaw-dropping price of 80,000 yen, who knows how much repairing it is going to cost?

Haru laughed as he looked as Yuji's surprised face. "Calm down, calm down. I was just kidding. Although I still have to charge, if that's okay with you. This is a gaming powerhouse, after all. I'm not even sure if I can fix it." Yuji eventually calmed down and sighed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just skip the technical stuff and get it over with." He said. "Just do your best and I'll buy you lunch for a month. Take note—an entire month."

"That's fabulous, Yuji." Haru sighed, reeking of sarcasm.

He then continued to study the thing, pursing his lips and putting a hand on his chin. Yuji looked at him; he looked pretty focused so he just sat there and waited for him to actually start taking the damn thing apart. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, aside from the task at hand. He also noticed that Takeharu has lost a lot of weight; his shirts were always just the right fit for him, but now they looked a bit loose. His eyes were only half-open, and darkened eye bags were starting to surface right below them. Also, it seemed like he hasn't shaved in a while, as a sloppy five o'clock shadow littered his tired face.

Work must have a way of killing your appetite and hygiene.

Haru was still thinking. He had spent the last five minutes staring hopelessly at Yuji's CPU, until finally his head snapped up and he looked up at his colleague. He then stood up and reached for his bedside table, pulling the drawer and reaching for his wallet, taking out a couple of bills.

"Could you go to the store and buy me a pack of cigarettes?" He told Yuji, who was dumbfounded as he stared at the 1,000 yen bill that Haru was handing over to him.

He smacked him on the forehead. "That's what you were thinking so much about?"

"Ow!"

Haru retaliated by slapping him in the face with his wad of cash, which kind of hurt just as much. "Just shut up and take my money!" He yelled, shoving the bill into Yuji's shirt, picking him up and taking him all the way to the door. He threw him out as if he weighed nothing at all. "And don't come back without my cigarettes! You're not getting your CPU back without them!" He told him, slamming the door behind him as he went back inside.

He groaned as he stepped back into his room, smiling. They may look like they're having a serious fight, but acting like angry high school boys was their way of having fun. The past few weeks have been pretty hard on Haru, although being with Sawako lessened the stress.

Yuji coming over and bugging him might just be exactly what he needed.

After about twenty minutes of staring at Yuji's CPU, Haru heard the doorbell being repeatedly pressed downstairs, causing him to flinch before growling in irritation. He then stepped out of his room and started making his way to the door.

"Why can't you ring a doorbell like a normal—OW!" Yuji threw the half-pack of Marlboro cigarettes at his friend's face as soon as he opened the front door, cackling as he saw the red rectangular mark that it left on his pale forehead.

Haru just sighed and took the cigarette pack as he went back inside. "Grow up, why don't ya?" He groaned.

Yuji immediately reached for the Zippo on top of Haru's bedside table and lit up his own cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke as his friend sat back down on the floor, crossing his arms and contemplating on how he should perform his little operation. He was actually pretty scared that when he takes the CPU apart, he might not be able to reassemble it, which held a small possibility, but nevertheless was still a possibility. He has never really handled an HP computer before. He was excited, but at the same time also nervous.

Suddenly, the two of them heard the sound of raindrops against the roof, causing them to look out the window.

Haru stared blankly at the drizzle. "It's raining."

"No kidding, Sherlock." Yuji gave him a blank look. "By the way, how long do you plan on staring at that thing? Don't tell me you're just going to look at it all day?"

"A good engineer always thinks first before acting." He said, as if he was some sort of master talking to one of his pupils.

That was when his phone suddenly rang, tittering on top of his bedside table. He stared at Yuji first, and Yuji stared back, giving him a suspicious look. The two of them then impulsively leapt towards the table, racing for the mobile phone. They both crashed, knocking the entire table over, with Haru groaning in both pain and defeat.

Yuji laughed as he took the phone and looked at the screen, which showed the name _Sawako. _"Another one of your girls, Sato-kun?" He said. He then flipped it open and grinned, answering the call in his girliest voice. "Hello?" He said, batting his eyes as if the person on the other line could actually see him.

"Hey, give that back!" Haru yelled, trying to take his phone back, but Yuji kept him away by grabbing onto his forehead with one hand.

"Hello? Is this Takeharu?" Sawako asked over the other line.

"Oh, no, this is his girlfriend," Yuji giggled, still trying to maintain his poorly formulated female voice. "What can I do for you?"

Haru quickly took his pack of cigarettes and threw it at Yuji's face for being such a douche. "Oh, crap!" He yelled as he fell back from the impact, dropping Haru's phone in the process. The older one acted quick and dived onto the floor, sliding as his phone fell onto his palm. He then stood up and sprinted towards the living room, away from the intrusive Yuji.

"Hello?" He said, finally pressing the phone against his ear. He was afraid she actually believed what Yuji said. "Sawako? Sorry about that, that was just Yuji. You know, from work. He came over today."

It took a while before Sawako replied. "Oh. I see. I just wanted to check on you, with the rain and all." She sounded pretty embarrassed. "Will you still be coming over after school?"

Haru flinched. _Oh crap._

He looked up at the analog clock on his wall, his eyes widening as soon as he saw the time. It was 4PM, only an hour left before the end of Sawako's last class for the day, if Haru remembers correctly. This morning, he had already told her he'd take her out for dinner after school, which he always does every Monday to ensure that "every week begins the right way," but when this thing with Yuji suddenly came up, the idea completely slipped off his mind.

"I am so sorry," He said, starting to panic. "I completely forgot about that. I'm really sorry." He was practically running around, unsure of what to do first. All he knew was that he needed to get to Sakuragaoka High, pronto.

"Calm down, Haru." Sawako sighed. It wasn't like him to be forgetful at all. But the way he was panicking when he remembered, she found it just sweet, which more than made up for it. "It's all right, I still have my last period anyway. We'll just wait for you at the club room afterwards, okay?"

He let himself fall back and sit with his legs crossed in the middle of his living room. "Okay." He sighed. "I'm really, really sorry."

Sawako smiled. Who could resist a guy like him? "It's fine, don't beat yourself up."

"...Okay."

Haru was just about to click and end the call when he heard her say something incomprehensible on the other line, something like 'hey', causing him to put it back on his ear. "Yeah? What is it?" He asked nonchalantly.

"I love you."

He smirked. "Yeah, I love you too."

With that, he clicked and flipped his phone closed. Almost as immediately, Yuji came out of the shadows, where he had been eavesdropping on their conversation the whole time, and looked over Haru's shoulder so he could take a glance at his phone.

Haru smacked him on the face.

"Holy sushi!" He whimpered as he felt the pain on his forehead. "What the hell is wrong with you, Takeharu?"

He started making his way up the stairs and back to his room, with Yuji still on his tail. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on that CPU, Yuji. I have... uh... I remember I have to be somewhere in an hour, like, someplace... nothing special." He rambled, running his hands through his slightly longer hair. "I'll just... I don't know, call you?"

Yuji shrugged. "You know you could just tell me you've got another one of your 'dates' tonight. It's not like you haven't told me about the last twenty girls you've nailed since you started working at the Center."

Haru was staggered. His friend was telling the truth. Sawako didn't even know about that, at least not yet. He had been itching to tell her that part of his life but he just couldn't bring himself to do it; it was a bit too heavy, especially when she's currently living in the conviction that Haru's Mr. Perfect. He paused for a moment before he just laughed and went back to searching his cabinet for any attractive clothes that may make Sawako forget about him forgetting about tonight.

Yuji could only scoff. He got the message now. "So who's the lucky girl?" He asked. "And is she really that special?"

Haru pulled out the drawer from his bedside table again and took a photograph from a messy pile, smiling as he handed it over to his friend. Yuji looked down at it and grinned, seeing Haru and a girl smiling while he wrapped an arm around her. Seeing him smile wasn't that rare, but he sure looked a lot happier in that photo.

"Is this the same wild chick in a death metal band you showed me some time ago?" He inquired.

"Yep, same one." Haru nodded. "Her name's Sawako Yamanaka."

"Wow, talk about changing for the better." Yuji laughed. "Just a little more and she'll be a better at changing her look than Michael Jackson. I mean, seriously, look! It's like the devil saw the light!" He said cackling, almost falling back on the floor.

Haru just laughed and took the photo back. "Yeah, yeah. Cut it out, will ya?"

"But seriously, man. She looks nice. Real nice." Yuji raised an eyebrow and smirked impishly. "Pretty hot too. I love the transition."

"Now don't go getting any ideas, Yuji. She's my girlfriend." Haru joked, though he still looked a bit serious.

Yuji raised both his hands and stepped back, chuckling. "Of course, of course. Wasn't planning to." He said. "Still, you picked an interesting one. I'd love to meet her some time."

* * *

><p>"Maybe some other time, Hisaka-kun."<p>

Haru waved Yuji goodbye as he dropped him off at the nearest station, now on his way to Sakuragaoka High at 5:15. They still had to clean the place up before locking it up, and it was still raining pretty hard, so Haru had loaned his friend one of his old umbrellas so he wouldn't have a hard time going home.

He picked up his phone and dialled Sawako's number, waiting for her to answer.

Sawako was in the music room, watching the Wakaba Girls practice when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She quietly slipped outside while the girls continued playing their song and quickly descended a couple of floors lower so that the ambient noise wouldn't be too loud when she answers her call.

"Hello?" She blinked as she answered.

"Hey," Haru greeted. He could hear the band playing. "Are you still at school? I'm on my way there now. How are things?"

Sawako smiled back at a number of students who greeted her on their way home. "Good, I guess. We just had tea and now I'm watching over the girls while they practice their new song."

"Making some progress, eh? That's good for them."

"Yeah." She said. She suddenly frowned, looking worried. "Hey, are you sure it's all right for you to call me while you're driving in this weather? You might get yourself in an accident."

She could hear him chuckle on the other line. "Oh, don't worry about me." He said. "This is nothing compared to driving in New York. Come to think of it, that's probably the reason I never drove in New York."

"That didn't make much sense, but if you say so." Sawako sighed. "In any case, you should get back to just driving. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, now. Just come up to the music room when you get here, okay?"

Haru smirked. He was flattered at how worried she was. "Yes, ma'am."

"All right." She replied. "Take care, I love you."

"I love you too."

This time it was Sawako who ended the call. She clicked and put her phone back in her pocket and ascended up to the music room again.

It didn't take too long before Haru arrived at Sakuragaoka High. He parked his Innova at the empty lot near the school and pulled his umbrella out, along with an empty jacket, in case Sawako needed it, and a plastic bag filled with takoyaki. He could hear the song that the Light Music Club was playing from outside the school, even though the sound of the pouring rain was a little louder. He had to hand it to those girls, though, if they hadn't played Fuwa Fuwa Time after school that fateful day months ago, he would never have met their amazing club moderator.

Haru would have to thank them properly sooner or later, with something much better than feeding them snacks, as if they really needed more of that, but right now this was the best he could do on such short notice. He knew it was only supposed to be him and Sawako tonight, but he figured it wouldn't hurt if they spent it with her students.

Like Sawako had instructed, he ascended to the music room, but decided to wait for the girls to finish playing, just outside the door. He looked down and noticed a little statue of a cartoon frog standing in the corner and tilted his head like a dog, examining the thing. This was probably the first time he took notice of that thing. It was pretty weird.

A few seconds later, the Wakaba Girls finished the song, causing Haru to look back up at the door.

"That was great, girls. Though I think that's enough for today. You should all clean up and go home now."

"Yeah, it's raining pretty hard."

"Wait, I have to use the ladies' room."

He was just about to grab the knob so he could finally come inside when the door suddenly opened, revealing a flabbergasted little Ui looking up at him, blinking. Everyone else noticed that he was outside and stared.

"Oh, Haru-san." She managed to say. "What are you doing here outside the music room? You're welcome to come in, you know."

Haru laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah, I was waiting for you girls to finish your song. The jam sounded so good that I didn't want to interrupt anything." He said. He then raised his little plastic bag, grinning. "You girls must be pretty tired. I brought dinner."

The members of the Light Music Club all gawked at the idea. Haru coming over might just be the cure they needed for their gloomy afternoon.

Jun immediately grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him inside. "Oh, thank you, thank you! Please, come inside and make yourself at home, Haru-chan!" She then pulled a chair for him. "Please, do sit down and relax and all that jazz. Let me take that coat for you."

Sawako then smiled upon seeing him and stood up so she could greet him. "I'm glad you made it here okay." She said, letting him kiss her on the forehead.

"Of course." He smirked, causing everyone in the room to squeal.

"They're so sweet!" Jun shrieked.

Haru could only laugh. It was nice seeing these kids again.

He helped them out in preparing the takoyaki he bought at a nearby convenience store, although the girls weren't letting him do much other than getting the plates. He was a guest, so he was obligated to just shut up, sit down and eat with them. After he was done, he took a seat beside Sawako as they all looked at Ui and Sumire as they served the Takoyaki and juice, giving everyone three balls each.

"You sure we're not keeping you girls from anything?" He asked them again. "You girls still have school tomorrow, you know."

"Nah, it's fine." Said Jun. "Besides, who can turn down such good food?"

Azusa looked at everyone as she took a seat at the head of the table. She flinched, seeing that Sawako was lit up even brighter now that Haru has arrived. _Am I seriously the only one who's being blinded by Miss Sawa-chan?_

"Oh, hey, Azu-nyan." Haru grinned, taking notice of the awkwardness in her facial expression. Azusa blinked at him. _Azu-nyan? He's probably talking to Yui-senpai too much. _"Those are some nice cat ears." He chuckled, pointing at her head. "They look great on you. I didn't know you were into things like that."

She gasped and immediately put both her hands on her head, realizing that she was still wearing those stupid cat ears that Sawako 'convinced' her to wear right before they started practicing. "Oh, crap! I forgot all about that!" Her face turned red, and she quickly took it off, causing everyone in the room, including Haru, to laugh.

"Oh, why'd you have to do that, Azusa-chan?" Sawako pouted. "It looked so great on you. Like a little kitty."

Haru chuckled as he looked at the little girl and took a sip from his orange juice. He really hasn't tasted anything so sweet in a while, so he ended up taking gulps until his glass was already only half-empty.

Sumire noticed this and looked up at him. "Wow, Haru-senpai. You must be really thirsty."

"Oh, sorry about that." He said. "I guess I just missed drinking orange juice."

Jun leaned on the table, resting her cheek against her palm as she devoured a whole ball of takoyaki. She then turned to Haru. "Is orange juice that rare where you live, Haru-chan?"

"It's not that it's rare, I just don't get to drink sweet fruit drinks anymore. It's always coffee and... more coffee. Work can get really stressful sometimes." He laughed. He didn't want to tell them how often he drank alcohol, which was probably the main reason he missed sweets. He didn't want to seem like a bum or anything, and it might make them want to do the same as well.

Sawako looked at him. She knew exactly what was on his mind. It made her smile. He wanted to be a good example to these kids just as much as she did. It was really sweet of him.

* * *

><p>"Thanks again, Haru-chan!"<p>

"Later!"

"Take care of Miss Sawa-chan!"

Haru and Sawako waved the girls goodbye as he dropped them off at the station after they insisted not to be taken home individually since it would take too much time, despite his efforts of persuading them. It was still raining when he drove off again, which made steering a little harder than usual, meaning he had to be twice as careful, especially now when Sawako was with him.

"I still don't get why they have to do that," He groaned, still thinking of Azusa and the others. "Things would have been a lot easier for them if they rode with us."

"They just didn't want to be a burden to you, you know." Sawako said.

"But I said it was fine." He moped.

This caused Sawako to giggle. She didn't think Haru was aware of how stubbornly selfless he was being. The girls simply declined his offer because they wanted the two to have some time to themselves, which was implied by Jun, who had been giving her dirty looks since they finished their takoyaki.

That girl must have been psychic.

"Anyway, it's just the two of us now." She said. "What do you want to do?"

That question mildly surprised him. Normally they'd just eat and he'd take her home before he went back to his own place to get ready for work, but now she just implied that she wanted something different tonight, or at least he thought so.

Haru cleared his throat. He decided to play it safe. "I don't know." He said casually. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, you want to come over to my place?" She asked innocently.

_Jackpot_.

At the end of the day, Haru was just another boy.

He wanted to clean his ears just to make sure he heard that right. It wasn't the first time he was going to her place, though. He'd often come there about two to three times a week to help her out with her schoolwork, which usually ended up in after-dinner make-out sessions, but this was the first time she actually invited him like that.

Was something good about to happen?

Haru took a quick awkward glance at her before staring at the road again, swallowing that lump down his nervous throat. "Sure, if it's alright with you."

And Sawako only smiled in response.

About half an hour later, they arrived at her apartment, with Haru wrapping a protective arm around his girlfriend while he held his umbrella up for the both of them after parking his car at the empty lot just across the street. He put his umbrella down as they ascended to the third floor, where her apartment was located.

He was smiling, holding her left hand while her right hand reach for the keys and opened the door. Her hand searched the wall for the switch and flicked it on as soon as she found it, revealing her place, which was spick and span as usual.

She stepped inside and hung Haru's jacket and coat by the door while he left the umbrella to dry just outside her door.

"Sorry if the place seems a little unidy." She said, laughing. "Excuse me while I go get changed. No peeking." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he only grinned in reply. She then reached out for some fresh clothes in her room and went to the bathroom to change.

_Disorganized? What was she talking about? _Haru thought as he removed his shoes and shyly stepped inside. The place was almost spotless.

He sat down and crossed his legs in front of the table in the living room and smiled, looking around.

Soon enough, Sawako emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a light blue cardigan with nothing but her bra underneath and short shorts, along with her favourite pair of flip flops. She then sat next to Haru, who was still smiling at her, and leaned on his shoulder.

She hit his arm playfully. "What are you so happy about?"

He laughed and shook his head. "It's nothing."

They stayed as they were for a couple of minutes, just sitting and listening to the sound of the rain, until the smile on Haru's face slowly faded. He suddenly remembered something important, but is this really the right time?

He lifted his chin, causing Sawako to look up at him. "What is it?"

Haru looked down at her and stared at her worried eyes. He then shook his idea off and quickly leaned in, kissing her gently before quickening his pace, and she really had no choice but to oblige. Sawako's eyes fluttered close, getting lost in the feeling of kissing Haru's skilful lips. He gently pushed her down so she was lying on the floor before he started making trails of kisses from her lips to her neck, tickling her a bit. He has never kissed her like this.

She moaned sharply as she felt him bite, sucking on her delicate skin. She couldn't help but feel a little strange, and skeptical. Tonight he seemed a lot... hungrier. It wasn't entirely a bad thing, but it still made her worry.

Sawako let him kiss her more, gasping in pleasure as he did so, but immediately sat up as soon as she felt him trying to undress her. That drew the line. This just wasn't like him at all.

Haru looked up at her, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's up?" He said, blinking. "Is something wrong?"

She fixed herself as she sat back up and crossed her legs, buttoning her shirt and putting her glasses on. "You know, I should be the one asking you that." She said. "Is there a problem? You can tell me."

"I-It's nothing. I'm fine. What are you talking about?" He shook his head.

Sawako wasn't quite satisfied with that answer. She crossed her arms and frowned; as hard as it was to act so strict around her boyfriend, she had to, especially when he was acting like some hungry hyena feeding on meat after not eating for a week.

Haru looked at her. He then sighed in defeat and hung his head, grabbing his wet hair. "You're right. I'm sorry." He mumbled. "Please excuse me. I need to smoke this one out."

With that, he stood up and hurriedly left the apartment, leaving his coat and his umbrella behind. Sawako thought of running after him, but figured he'd come back for his things if he does decide to just leave and go home, so instead she slipped her flip flops on and walked towards the balcony, from where she saw him at the empty lot across the street, where he parked his car. _That was fast. _He stood under the shade of the nearby tree to protect himself from the rain and put a cigarette from his pocket to his mouth, immediately lighting it up. His hands were shaking so much that he had almost missed it.

Sawako watched him from the third floor, but all she could see were his feet. The rest of his body was blocked from view by the leaves. He didn't look like he was leaving any time soon, so she decided to pick up his umbrella and come to where he was.

Haru blew out a cloud of smoke, which quickly disappeared in the fog. He smacked himself on the forehead, regretting what he just did to Sawako. "That was probably the dumbest thing I have ever done in my entire life." He told himself, taking another long drag from his cigarette. His hands were still shaking. It must have been the temperature.

He then saw his girlfriend come into view from the apartment building, holding his umbrella and apparently heading towards where he was. He quickly threw his cigarette away, rubbing his hands against his wet hair and thinking of something smart to say as an apology.

She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him as soon as she reached the spot in front of him. "Are you trying to get yourself sick?" She asked.

Haru looked down at her. "I'm sorry." It was all that could come out of his mouth. As much as he wanted to be a bit more romantic by saying something more elaborate and charming, it was really all he could come up with. He mentally smacked himself again for being such an idiot.

"You can come back inside and we can talk about it." She smiled. "Does that sound good to you?"

Haru just looked at her again, a little confused. After what he did, she should be slapping him silly by now. But she wasn't. Was it because she was still clueless about these things? She seemed to know what she was doing, though. He nodded reluctantly and followed her as she started to make her way back to the building, when suddenly...

"Haru? Haru Sato, is that you?"

He quickly turned and followed the voice, immediately recognizing it, dreading the thought that he was right about who he thought it was, and unfortunately enough, he was right.

He looked down and saw a slender young woman with a dark pixie cut, holding an umbrella and smiling up at him, obviously pleasantly surprised. Sawako could only look at the two of them, still confused. "How have you been? I honestly thought I'd never see you again, the way you took off that night." The girl said. Either she was completely ignoring Sawako or she just didn't know she was there. Either way, her full attention was on Haru, who was only staring blankly at her. "You do remember me right?" She asked. "It's me, Sayuri Kusanagi. We met at the Label, remember? We even spent the night at..."

"I'm sorry, I don't remember." Haru immediately said, cutting her off. He honestly had no idea what this woman was talking about. "You must have the wrong guy, miss."

Sayuri raised her eyebrow. "But you are Takeharu Sato, right?"

He nodded. "That's right. But you must have had me confused with someone else. I don't remember spending any time with you, ma'am, or with anyone else, for that matter, with all due respect."

Sayuri frowned in discontent, and that was when she finally noticed Sawako, who was only looking at her. "Ah," Sayuri said, rather triumphantly. "I get it now." She snickered bitterly. "Another day, another girl, eh? You are such a player."

"I don't know what you're..."

Haru was cut off with a quick, but heavy slap across the face, causing his cheek to burn red with the faint mark of Sayuri's hand. "Jerk." She said, storming off.

Sawako and Haru stared at her as she walked away and disappeared into the rain before turning to each other again. Haru looked down at her and saw her hurt expression. It was indescribable, really. She looked calm, but he could tell she was furious and confused and every little negative feeling the world. She then sighed, trying her best to maintain her composure and trying not to slap him in the face as well.

"Care to explain yourself, Mr. Sato?" She sighed, impatiently tapping her foot, as if she was talking to one of her students.

* * *

><p>Six cans of beer and a whole pack of cigarettes later, Haru and Sawako ended up back at her apartment, the two of them lying on the floor next to each other and staring up at the ceiling. As usual, Haru was wasted, and Sawako was perfectly sober. It was one of her many strengths: no matter how much she drank, if she didn't want to get drunk, she really wouldn't. She had been waiting for him to speak up about what just happened and what's been happening to him, but at this rate, he might fall asleep before that actually happens.<p>

Suddenly, he started coughing feverishly, causing him to roll over to the side, facing away from his worried girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" Sawako asked, sitting up and putting a hand on his waist.

He tried to laugh between his coughs, but miserably failed. "No... it's fine. I'm okay, I'm okay." He gasped. He kept at it until it gradually just went away, but he was still holding his chest in a tight grasp.

Sawako sighed, shaking her head. "It's the beer. You really need to lay off the beer, Haru. I'm serious. Look what it's doing to you." She said. "Mix alcohol with stress and whatever's been happening to you and look what happens."

"It's fine. I'm fine." He insisted.

She then dramatically took off her glasses and looked at him again, giving her the signature Death Devil glare, the same one she used to show the girls of Houkago Tea Time when they were getting too rowdy, for the first time. "No, you're not fine." She said in a delirious, ghoulish voice, completely scaring the panties out of Haru and causing him to crawl frantically to a corner, forgetting all about the pain in his chest.

He was shaking as he watched her, practically hovering towards him, surrounded by a terrifying cloud of darkness.

"Please don't eat me, please don't eat me. I've got a girlfriend, a-a-and a job!" He pleaded helplessly, whimpering as he wrapped his arms around his legs.

Sawako then went back to her 'normal form' in less than a second, blinking as she looked around as if nothing really happened, and Haru just stared blankly at her, still a little scared. He sighed in relief, seeing that there was no sign of her inner devil coming out again any time soon.

She put a hand on her forehead. "Well, that was weird."

"No kidding." He laughed nervously, sounding like he was close to losing his sanity.

Sawako sighed and sat on the spot next to him, this time looking much more serious than before. She then leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes as he felt his arm come down and wrap itself around her slender waist. "I was serious, though, about you not being fine at all, and I wasn't talking about your health. Come on. Talk to me." She said. "Tell me what's wrong."

Haru looked down at her again before he leaned back and looked up with a tired sigh. Looks like she was determined to get some answers from him, and there was no stopping her now. Perhaps it really was time to come clean. Honesty comes with having a girlfriend, after all.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "It's a pretty long story. Where do you want me to begin?"

"You decide. I've got all the time in the world." She said calmly. "Tell me everything you believe I should know."

"All right, then." Haru put a hand on his chin, rubbing his slapdash five o'clock shadow and actually thinking about it. _Everything I believe she should know. Fair enough. _ "Hmm, well… for starters, that girl we met a while ago, Sayuri…" He began, still a little nervous. "I may not remember her at all, but I honestly believe she was telling the truth, that I was the Takeharu Sato she was looking for."

"So, what do you think happened between the two of you?" Sawako asked, putting a hand on his lap.

"Something I wouldn't be so proud of telling, I guess." He said. "It was probably part of my little party animal phase back when I was still in college until the time I met you. It wasn't hard for me to score because New Yorkers surprisingly preferred the foreign guy, plus I played in a band so I got a lot of action. It was true: another day, another girl. I used to live by that, thanks to my friends at the Lacrosse team. And most nights I'd just get so drunk that I can't even remember what happened the previous night. And it went on even after I arrived here. Old habits die hard."

Sawako laughed at that, which surprised him. He was ruining his Mr. Perfect image right in front of her, yet it seemed okay. She wasn't as shocked as he expected her to be. But of course it hurt her, she just didn't want to show it. "I think we've all gone through that phase, but yours is probably a little worse." She said.

He chuckled. That lessened the amount of anxiety he was feeling. "Yeah, you can say that again." He continued. "But because of that, I wasn't able to keep my grades in check. I dropped a couple of subjects and I ended up taking two and a half extra years on my five-year course. I almost didn't finish CE." He hung his head and snickered at the thought of his old self. "I mean, I didn't even like that course. I only chose it because at the time, I was very irresponsible and I couldn't think of a talent or skill that I could focus on and use as a career… and because my dad 'suggested' it. He was quite the overachiever. It was like, 'Hey, son, you can be anything you want, just as long as it's an engineer'."

The perfect example of the high-expectations Asian father.

She looked up at him. "What about being a bassist? And Hirasawa told me you were pretty good at math. Didn't you think of that?"

"That's because one of my requirements back in high school involved joining an extra-curricular club. And since I was a talentless little sap, I had no choice but to join our own music club and learn to play the bass. Never really liked it." He laughed. He suddenly felt like he was a lot like Yui now. That was probably the reason he was so fond of the Hirasawa sisters, other than the fact that they were neighbors.

"That sounds a lot like someone I know." Sawako giggled. "The same went with Yui, but she ended up loving what she does. Nodoka told me she used to be so clueless about everything, but after she discovered music, she's been more focused than I'll probably ever be."

"Now that's something I've never felt before, even when playing bass." He nodded, looking up again. "Whenever I performed, I felt so robotic. I liked being onstage, but I couldn't feel that feeling that's supposed to free you when you play; that feeling that musicians talk about all the time. Maybe that's why my music always sounded so soulless."

"Then maybe music's just not your calling." She replied. "The same goes with your engineering gig. But nevertheless, you worked hard enough to finish it. That's got to count for something, right?"

Haru nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I guess. But I do hope I find that calling soon." He said. "Hey, Sawako?"

"Hmm?" She looked up.

"Are you mad at me? Now that I'm not the perfect guy you thought I was? I was a womanizer, I finished my first degree at twenty-four, and a bunch of other things." He asked. There was one minor detail that he insisted on not confessing, something that may just get him kicked out of the house, but he wasn't going to take that risk, oh no. He figured she didn't have to know that anyway. "I'm sorry I kept all that from you for so long. I was actually looking for an opportunity, but I guess it only took one slap for me to spill it." As usual, he was being his charming self.

Sawako giggled. "And I wasn't even the one who slapped you."

"Yeah." He smirked.

She then pushed herself up so she could give him a quick, reassuring kiss on the lips. "Don't worry." She said, smiling, brushing his frayed bangs to the side so she could have a clearer view of his pale face. "I'm not looking for Mr. Perfect. Who needs someone like that when I've got Mr. Honest?"

Haru could only laugh a little nervously. Way to guilt trip a man. "So," he said. "There it is. You know everything about me now. If there's anything else you need to know, you can just ask."

_Yeah, right._

"Now, it's my turn." Sawako stood up and made her way towards her little bookshelf by her room, searching until she finally found her old high school scrapbook, filled with photos of her and her generation's Light Music Club. Haru looked up at her; he had a pretty good idea of what she's about to show him. She was sure now, and it really was about time she showed him all of that.

She came back and sat beside him, handing him the scrapbook with a shy smile. He was smiling to himself, but on the outside he pretended to be at least a little surprised.

He reluctantly opened it and turned to the first page, where a single picture of all the members of the band Death Devil was taped rather shabbily. Sawako giggled upon seeing it, and he could tell that just by looking at it, they were really cranking up the nostalgia.

"That's the band Norimi was talking about. We were both part of this metal band, Death Devil, and I was the guitarist and lead vocalist." She explained.

"Wow," he said, touching the photograph, "You look… really young." Sawako looked at him. "Er, I mean, really cool!"

She sighed. "Yeah, those were the wilder days."

"Yeah, really wild." He chuckled, grinning as he kept staring at the photo. He immediately recognized Norimi, who was smiling right next to Sawako, even though she used to have longer, darker hair, tied up in a messy ponytail.

Sawako looked at him as he studied the rest of the scrapbook. She could tell he was really interested, which was a huge relief, considering she has always thought that it'd creep him out if ever he knew about her high school days, but now he was acting the complete opposite. He looked so curious and fascinated that he was starting to look like an excited little boy looking at a new toy. She never expected this from him.

Haru laughed at himself after noticing how worked up he was getting. "I'm… I'm sorry, this is just too awesome." He said. He then put the scrapbook back down on the table, returning to his girlfriend and wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her affectionately. "That officially makes you the coolest girlfriend ever. And in my book, that deserves a trophy."

She laughed between their kisses until she finally pulled away, poking his nose and giggling. "You know you still reek. You smell like an entire bar." She told him. She then kissed him again. "But that's okay, I'll still love you even if you smelled like an entire garbage truck."

"Oh, really?" He said, chuckling. "Well, I'll still love you even if you become the wildest girl on the planet."

That made her smile. If he really meant what he said, then Sawako may have just found her soul mate. She actually thought about it, and realized just how perfect Haru really was.

He's always smiling whenever he's with her, no matter how bad his day has been. He always holds her hand as much as he can, especially in public. He has never raised her voice at her, but instead is always calm and sweet whenever they talk. He finds her cosplay antics pretty cute, and thinks she's a perfect role model for her students as she is. There's nothing he really doesn't like about her, and she could go on forever counting his perfections, but summing it all up, he was already perfect as he is, despite every flaw about himself that he's pointed out. And he was hers.

She reached out so she could touch his face and leaned in so they could kiss again.

_This is it. _She thought. _He's the one._

Haru continued to kiss her, smirking as he did so, like always. This time Sawako directed his hands down so he could unbutton her cardigan. _So something really is going to happen tonight._ Though something was still tugging on his conscience. Something imaginary kept tapping on his shoulder, urging him to spill his secret out, but he couldn't, now that he and Sawako were in a good place again.

"She doesn't have to know." He thought to himself, and kept kissing her.

Perhaps she really doesn't have to know.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _And I'm back! Sorry if this took a while. It's been a busy week for me, and it's gonna be a lot busier next week so the next chapter may also take a while. I hope you like it, though. :3 And as always, constructive criticism is welcome especially since I've been screwing up a lot lately. :)) I really appreciate the reviews!_

_BTW, I wanna give a shout out to the Filipino readers who've read my story. I just recently found out that Wild Rock also has a good number of Filipino readers, so I'd like to acknowledge you all. Mabuhay! _


	6. Chapter 6: High School of the Dead

**Chapter 6**

_High School of __the__ Dead_

It was a cold Tuesday night in December when Haru's doorbell was rung twice. He had just finished cooking bad instant noodles and was about to have dinner when he was disturbed just as instantly. He hurriedly fixed his sweater and rushed towards his front door, his eyes widening as soon as he opened it and saw who it was waiting for him.

He stared blankly at his visitors in total shock. "M-Mom?"

Haru's mother, Ayame Sato, stood in his front door, and behind her were his sister Hitomi and his brother Takahiro, along with his wife Alyssa, whom he met and married back in Manhattan. They were all smiling at him, and were carrying quite the luggage. Their father, though, was nowhere to be found, much to his relief. But it still couldn't quite take away the fact that he was so shocked that it frustrated him. These people were the last thing he wanted to see, ever; and to see them right now, of all times and of all places, it just made him want to slam the door in their faces.

"Hey there, Haru." Takahiro greeted, stepping forward and grinning at his staggered little brother. "You're going to let us in, aren't you?"

Haru shook his head and tried to snap himself out of it, hastily stepping aside and letting his family in, helping out his mother and his sister with their bags first. He still couldn't process the fact that they were back home, in Japan, in the house that was now his, instead of staying back in New York where they could have probably had a better Christmas, leaving Haru alone so he could actually have a decent Christmas for once in his miserable life.

He and Takahiro set the bags aside by the stairs as the women went straight to the living room, which was still littered with a few of his dirty laundry and newspapers from days ago.

"Glad to see some things still haven't changed." Hitomi giggled, jumping onto the new leather couch Haru had bought, replacing the old one from years ago. She then looked up at their mother, who was already picking up Haru's dirty clothes and putting them on a pile at one corner before she finally sat down next to her daughter.

She sighed. "Takeharu, you're still so untidy." She said. Haru braced himself for another one of her legendary lectures. "Thank goodness your father isn't here. He would have locked you in your room for this mess."

"Except he's not here. Mom, I live alone now." Haru tiredly pointed out. "I don't see any problem in that. It's my mess, after all."

Hitomi laughed in her seat, causing his brother to glare at her. "That's no excuse to be so lazy. I mean, what if a girl walks in here?"

"Don't you have any girlfriends?" Takahiro pried, leaning by the counter dividing the dining room and the living room with Alyssa.

Haru looked up at his brother, whom everyone 'affectionately' called Hiro. He was giving him a dirty look, which Haru knew very well. It was as if he was telepathically telling his little brother, 'You probably don't have a girlfriend at all, considering how careless you still are. You'd better stop with the one night stands and try to settle down for a change'. It made him frown in frustration. _That jerk._

"I do have a girlfriend." Haru quickly bragged. He wasn't thinking at all when that golden bar of information slipped out of his big mouth.

"Ugh." Hitomi gave him a disgusted look, causing Hiro to laugh. "And you being this untidy is okay with her? Man, you really must be soul mates. She must be just as dirty."

"Oh, shut up, Hitomi. You don't even have a boyfriend." Haru said, talking in a way only annoyed older brothers can.

It wasn't long before they started shouting and making so much noise that everything they were saying became no longer comprehensible. Ayame sighed at the excessive noise her children were creating and put a hand on her forehead, shaking her head in annoyance. They were all already legal adults, but were still acting like a bunch of fourth-graders. Thankfully she was the kind of woman who always puts poise above all else. "All right, all right. That's enough." She said calmly. She then turned to Haru, who just stared at her blankly. "I'm sure you must already know why we're here."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Of course not, mom." He said, a little irritated. "I've been avoiding you all since I graduated and now you come to Japan and into this house without warning." It came out a bit harsh, but they were all used to him. He really was frank when it came to things like this. "How did you find me, anyway?"

"Well, luckily gathering information is easy in Manhattan. I hired your father's private investigator." Ayame replied. "Thanks to him and your brother's sources, we were able to find you here, of all places."

Takahiro's sources? _That's right._ Haru thought. When it came to pretty much everything, Hiro always has a guy to do the job. He may even have a guy to look for a guy to do what he wants to be done. That's just how connected he was, although no one really knew how Hiro does it.

"I am not coming back to New York." Haru said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

Hiro laughed at his brother's tenacity. "Don't worry, that's not why we're here." He smirked. He and Haru had the same signature smirk, only his was a little smugger, more confident, and a hell of a lot more charming. "The three of us are well aware that there's no convincing you to come back, now that you've already made up your mind, so we decided to come here to at least spend the holidays as a family... minus dad, as usual."

Haru scratched his head and groaned, taking all the information in. There goes his perfect plan of spending the holidays with Sawako. Now he's going to have to cancel that trip to Germany.

He frowned. _I can always count on these people to ruin everything. _He thought angrily. "Would it kill you to ask for my permission first? Like now, you just barged into my house uninvited and now you want to spend Christmas here?" He scolded his brother. "I mean, I have other plans too, you know!"

"Come on, don't you miss us, Haru-kun?" Hiro grinned.

He was just about to say something when he looked at his mother's face. She looked hurt; she didn't look like she was about to cry—she wasn't that kind of person—but her lips were pursed together and her eyes were glued to the floor. Haru had seen this transformation in his mother before, once when she got into a fight with their father that almost made the two of them want to get a divorce, and the other when Takahiro scolded her about not being a good enough mother when he was just in high school. Haru thought about it and realized that he was being way too harsh. He didn't want to see that look on Ayame's face again, and he certainly didn't want to be the reason for it. He was a huge mama's boy, after all. He sighed in defeat. This was his family, after all. It'd be nice to have them around every once in a while, even if they constantly got on his nerves, especially his little sister Hitomi.

"Fine. If that's the case, you're welcome to stay. You know where your rooms are." He said miserably. He knew he was going to regret this. "But please keep in mind that this is my house now. My house, my rules."

Ayame and Takahiro looked at each other contentedly.

Hitomi groaned. "Oh! But what if my room's all dirty? I'd still have to clean it up!"

"Shut up, Hitomi!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, sweetie. What's up?"<p>

Sawako answered the call from Haru on the second ring, while she was making dinner for herself in her little apartment. She had just finished reviewing the lessons for the next few days, which were the last days of school before winter break officially begins.

She could feel him hesitating on the other line, so she decided to wait patiently for him to explain himself, counting the possibilities. What could be the problem this time?

"H-Hey," He said, laughing nervously. Sawako could hear the wind over the speaker, so it was safe to assume that he was somewhere outside his house when he called. "About our little trip this winter break... I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel. Something really weird just happened. It's not really a bad weird, but it's not a good weird either."

Sawako lifted her chin, a little disappointed herself. She had even already researched a bit on their destination and planned which places to visit when they get there.

"Why, what happened?" She asked.

Haru cleared his throat before giving out his answer. "It's my family. They just arrived a while ago and they told me they plan on spending the holiday here." He said. "I swear I had no idea they were coming. I didn't even tell them I was living in Japan. I can't even process all of this right now."

"Okay. Calm down, calm down." She said, giggling a little. His anxiety was getting the better of him again. "If that's the case, it'd probably be better if you spent Christmas with them. You know, catch up on what you've missed."

He groaned at the thought of it. He really couldn't care less.

"That's nice, but... W-What? Hey! You idiot, give that back!"

"Hello?" Said an entirely different voice over the phone, which caused Sawako to raise both her eyebrows in mild surprise. It was a lot deeper that Haru's. "You must be my brother's so-called girlfriend and perhaps future sister-in-law. The name's Takahiro. Takahiro Sato. It's a pleasure."

She laughed anxiously. "Yes, this is she. It's nice to meet you, Takahiro-san. My name is Sawako. Sawako Yamanaka."

Hiro was grinning triumphantly as he stepped on his little brother's back with his obnoxiously tacky Italian loafers as he lay flat on the floor to keep him from getting back up on his feet and swiping his phone back. When it came to things like this, the older one was always the more dominant, much to Haru's annoyance.

"Listen, Sawako." He said. "It's pretty rare for Little Haru here to get himself into serious relationships with women so you can pretty much guess that the entire family is just thrilled to meet you."

"Damn it, Hiro!" Sawako heard her boyfriend scream over the other line.

The older one completely ignored him and continued. "So I was wondering if you'd like to spend Christmas with us, here in our humble home. Our mother would be absolutely delighted. She's hosting a party, you see. Not to brag, but people actually fight for invites to her parties." He offered ever so subtly. She could feel Sawako's excitement over the phone. "Only a chosen few will be invited. You can be Haru's plus one."

Haru's head immediately snapped up. Ayame Sato was a socialite, and was quite famous back in Manhattan—even before when they still lived in Japan—for her holiday dinner parties. Every year she'd host a Christmas party amongst many other gatherings and their guests mostly consisted of her and her husband's business partners and family friends. Their penthouse would be completely and expensively redecorated in order to suit the occasion as well as the guests' preferences. Haru absolutely despised going to those parties. He was always required to wear some stupid designer suit his mother picked for him in some loathsome store like Saks and act his best in front of his parents' friends. He found the whole thing obnoxious and pretentious and everything that's intolerable about the elite of the Empire State. It was one of the many reasons he disliked spending any time with his family.

If that was the kind of 'party' she was planning here at his own house, then the last thing he wants is to have her invite Sawako. It was bad enough for him to bear it alone, but if he brought someone like her along, she'd only feel out of place.

Sawako couldn't help but laugh on the other line, though. Takahiro was pretty charming, much like his little brother, only he was more outspoken. "I don't know." She said. "Are you sure it's okay with Haru?"

"Of course it's okay! I haven't seen him so excited in my entire life!" Said Hiro, looking down at Haru, who lay miserably in defeat. His face was pressed firmly against the asphalt. He had already accepted the fact that there's really nothing much he can do now.

"All right then. If you insist, Takahiro-san."

"Great! See you, then." Hiro then clicked to end the call, dropping the mobile phone for Haru to catch sloppily. He then lifted his foot and helped the poor kid stand up, dragging him up as if he weighed nothing at all.

Haru fixed his cardigan and raised an eyebrow at his big brother, who was smiling at him deviously. "I don't know what the hell you're planning, Hiro, but leave my girlfriend out of it." He then stormed off and back into the house, leaving an incredibly amused Hiro outside to chuckle to himself as he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it up with his own cheap lighter and smirked as he blew a thick cloud of smoke.

He smiled up at the sky. Things just got ten times more interesting.

* * *

><p>Haru sighed. "I swear, it was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."<p>

He sat behind his desk inside his own office with both of his feet lifted up while he took long gulps from the hip flask that he filled with the fine vintage bourbon he stole from his brother. It's been three days since his family came back to Japan and to his place. He had been ranting about how troublesome his brother has been since they arrived in Japan for more than half an hour now, but Yuji still tried his best to listen, even though the whole thing just bored him to death.

It was already six in the morning anyway, and they were pretty much done for the day so perhaps it was okay for Yuji to kill some time before he goes home, although he wasn't sure if it was safe for Haru to intoxicate himself while talking of his woes.

Yuji's eyes were only half-opened now, but he could still see how red his friend's face already was as he just finished complaining about how he walked in on Takahiro and Alyssa last night right before he went to work. His tie was pulled loose and the undershirt he wore under his blazer was opened, revealing his even redder chest.

"I mean, they could... you know, lock the door, right? Jesus." He breathed heavily, continuing his drunken tirade. "Seriously, that's all they do! They never even help around the house."

"That's gotta be rough, man." Yuji groaned. That was probably the seventh time he's said that already. "So, did you get to see Alyssa's..."

"NO."

Haru took another lazy swig, but realized that his flask was already empty. He grunted in annoyance and put it back on his desk, putting his feet back down and leaning in, trying to straighten himself up again. Yuji has never seen him so miserable. The situation must really be bad. "I can't even take Sawako back to my place." He said. "I know that the moment I do that, everyone's going to harass her and ask her all kinds of crazy questions. I can't even imagine how much trouble they're going to cause her."

Yuji tiredly sat back. He was sitting on the modern chaise longue that Haru just recently bought for office visitors, but he was usually just the one sitting on it, much to his friend's chagrin. "But you're still taking her to this little Christmas party thing your mom's hosting, right?"

"As much as I don't want to, I have to." Haru nodded, frowning. "Mom's parties are nice and all, but I don't think she and I will be able to fit into that kind of scene at all. I just hope everything stays civilized, and then we'll leave as soon as we possibly can."

"Well, judging from everything you've told me about your brother, I hope things go well too." Yuji said.

"And Sawako's looking forward to meeting everyone." He buried his face in his hands. "I just can't imagine how disappointed and ticked off she'll be once the day comes."

"Oh, don't think so negatively, Haru." Yuji laughed.

Haru scoffed and shook his head. "Oh, you have no idea, Hisaka-kun." He said. "Thank God my dad isn't even here. I could just imagine him criticizing Sawako down to every last detail until she runs home crying, like he did when Takahiro first introduced Alyssa to all of us." It made him grin just thinking about that incident. "Imagine, she ran away because dad told her she didn't seem like the right woman for his son. Takahiro was so mad about it that he didn't come home for a month!"

Yuji fell back cackling on his seat. "Sounds like your dad has unreachable standards." He looked like he was about to pee his pants. "I bet you were laughing the whole time!"

"Well, I guess." Haru shrugged and smirked. He was right. After all, those were his more juvenile days. "It was pretty funny."

"I only hope that doesn't happen to you, or it'll be your brother laughing at you this time." Yuji said, wiping away a single tear that fell from his eye. "Believe me, you're gonna miss your place when that happens."

Haru shook his head. "No way that's going to happen. My dad's not even here."

Suddenly his phone rang and vibrated in his pocket. "Excuse me." He said as he pulled it out and flipped it open, seeing Takahiro's name flashing irritatingly on the screen of his mobile phone. He stared at it for a while, raising his eyebrow. "It's Takahiro." He announced. "What could he want at a time like this?"

He sighed and clicked to answer it, pressing the damn thing against his ear. Haru didn't say anything, instead he waited for his brother to talk over the other line.

"Yo, Takeharu." Hiro finally greeted after a couple of seconds. "You're not busy, are you?"

Haru groaned. Just the sound of Takahiro's voice was enough to annoy the hell out of him. "Of course I am." He groaned. "I'm at work. It's not like I come here everyday just to slack off."

"Yeah, whatever." Said Hiro. "Anyway, since mom's party is in a few days, Alyssa wanted us to go out so we could shop for clothes. You should buy her a dress while you're at it, since she's your girlfriend and all."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "And what if I don't want to go?"

Hiro cackled on the other line. "Oh, don't worry, little brother. Since I'm a hell of a lot smarter than you, I planned ahead." He said triumphantly. "Alyssa already called Sawako and she agreed to come with us. All you have to do now is pick her up at school later at five after you're done there."

"WHAT?"

Haru stood up and slammed his hand furiously on the desk, almost scaring Yuji enough to send him out of the room. Being the good friend that he was, he peeked outside through the door and checked the hallway if anyone had heard the noise just now, because they were going to be in trouble if someone did. He stepped back inside Haru's office and looked at him, staggered by the sudden demonic aura that he was giving off.

Yuji couldn't help but wonder if he really was that angry or it was just the bourbon. No words could really describe just how furious Haru was right now.

"Hello? Hello, Haru?" Hiro called.

Haru was so ticked off that he could crush his mobile phone any second. He didn't look it, but he was really trying his best to be calm. "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just invite my girlfriend whenever you feel like it!" He yelled. "Damn it, Takahiro, would it kill you to ask for my permission for once in your nuisance of a life?"

Little did he know that Hiro already put him on speaker phone and placed the phone on the desk inside his room, letting Alyssa listen in to their conversation as she fixed her hair in front of mirror inside the bathroom. She quietly giggled as she combed her long, blonde hair while Hiro cackled endlessly on his seat. They were both relieved to see that Haru really hasn't changed and was still his uptight self. Hiro's got the little sucker right where he wants him.

"Oh, come on, bro." Hiro said lazily. "Take it easy. Think of it as some sort of double date. Alyssa really wants to meet her too, you know."

"It's perfectly fine if it's Alyssa, but there's no chance in hell I'm letting her meet you, you creep." Haru replied huskily. They could tell he was still pretty angry.

Hiro laughed. "Stop being so childish. We're just taking the girls shopping."

"You're the one who's being childish, damn it!"

_Wait. Shopping?_

Haru suddenly settled down and sat back on his office chair, actually thinking about it. It really didn't seem like such a bad idea, but he has never really taken any of his girlfriends shopping before—with his brother and his wife, no less. If he agreed to what Takahiro was planning, it was going to be his first time doing so, but knowing his brother, he was afraid it'd all end up in disaster. He was some sort of trouble-magnet, after all.

Yuji watched his transformation from the Incredible Hulk to normal human being from where he sat. He assumed Takahiro had said something that somehow pacified him.

"Hey, Haru? Yo, you still there?"

Haru shook his head to wake himself up from his thoughts. "Y-Yeah, I'm here." He said with a sigh. "Listen, if Alyssa insists, then I guess there's no harm. I have one condition, though."

Hiro grinned in his seat, glancing at Alyssa, who was already standing beside him, smiling as she listened to their conversation. That was fast. Haru gave in quicker than usual. Both of them were pleasantly surprised. "Yeah, sure, what is it?" Hiro asked.

"For the love of God, just act like the lawyer you are and be normal around my girlfriend." Haru groaned.

Takahiro couldn't help but nod at that.

"Sure thing."

Challenge accepted.

* * *

><p>"Yum," Jun said as she looked down at the packed lunch her mother had prepared for her. Everything was laid out on the table, and as usual, she was spending lunchtime with Azusa and Ui, who both looked just as excited as she was when they opened their own lunchboxes. "All right, let's dig in!"<p>

Azusa sighed longingly as she looked down at her lunch. "Thank goodness it's already lunch." She said. "I really thought I was gonna pass out from hunger back there."

"You forgot to eat breakfast again, didn't you?" Ui said, giggling.

"Not only that, I slept pretty early last night so I forgot to eat dinner too." Azusa said. She was talking as fast as she could, which really showed how much she was in a hurry to stop talking and just eat, for Christ's sake.

She quickly picked up her chopsticks and started gobbling rather hungrily, causing the other two to laugh a little nervously as they watched her eat.

"You know, she kind of reminds me more and more of your sister every day." Jun quietly told Ui, who could only laugh in response.

"Hey, everyone!"

All three of them looked up and saw their classmate, Minako Sagawara, calling out to everyone inside the classroom. She had just rushed to the doorway, panting a she leaned against the wooden wall so that she wouldn't fall over from fatigue. Poor girl; with her skinny figure, it really wasn't that hard to get tired so easily.

"Hey, look, it's Minako!" Jun exclaimed, looking genuinely surprised. Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and looked up at her. "What's up? Did something happen?"

Suddenly Minako's expression turned from exhaustion to excitement. She quickly straightened herself up, her eyes glowing with enthusiasm.

"Wow, that is way creepy." Azusa mumbled with her mouth still full.

Minako grinned, thrilled with the news she was about to share. "Someone said they saw some dead guy in a car at the parking lot!" She said. "We're checking it out right now!"

"Oh, that's terrible!" Ui said.

Everyone fell silent after hearing what the girl had to say. They couldn't tell if they were shocked by the news or just found the whole thing weird considering it was pretty much bad news but the way Minako had proclaimed it; she sounded like a little girl in an amusement park or a video game addict getting his hands on a copy of the newly-released Final Fantasy XIII-2.

And unexpectedly the room was abuzz. It was as if curiosity hit everyone all at the same time, and it wasn't long before they all made their way down the building and to the parking lot.

Jun, Ui and Azusa joined the crowd of girls, wanting to sneak a peek at the dead guy everyone was talking about. They craned their necks to try to get a better view, but it was no use. There were too many girls surrounding the Innova.

_Wait_. Innova?

Something suddenly hit Ui like a slap in the face. _Could it be him?_

"All right, all right. That's enough, girls. Get back to your classrooms."

A moment later, Sawako arrived at the scene along with other members of the faculty to control the crowd. It really wasn't that big, but the scene was causing the students to fuss too much. If what they heard about someone dead being in the parking lot was true, then it really was no place for these girls to be in.

"Miss Sawa-chan!" Jun greeted.

"Oh, it's you girls." Sawako blinked, walking to where the three were. "Do you have any idea what's going on here? We heard there was a corpse in the parking lot."

Azusa shrugged. "No idea. We just got here ourselves."

Sawako sighed tiredly as she watched the other teachers trying to control the crowd. She then looked over to Ui, who was still silently staring at where the car was, and couldn't help but get curious. "Hey, Hirasawa-kun?" She asked the girl. "What's up? Are you okay?"

Ui couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the scene. "Hey, Miss Sawako?" She said. "Doesn't that Innova look a bit familiar?"

"Huh?"

Sawako stood on her toes so she could see above the group of girls and saw the car. Her eyes suddenly widened in utter horror, seeing the familiar Innova. She then began to quickly elbow the clusters of students in the way and worriedly walked towards the car, finally making it to the open window by the driver's seat.

_Please don't let it be Haru, please don't let it be Haru. _She kept chanting in her head, praying to every god out there.

She then peeked inside the car, and much to her surprise, she saw none other than her beloved boyfriend, sitting with his eyes closed and his head thrown back as he sat lifelessly on the passenger seat. She gasped and covered her mouth to stop herself from sobbing. His face was pale and he looked cold. His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his red chest. There was no blood, but he still looked terrible. It was just as she feared.

She heard a couple of students whisper behind her.

"Wait, Ms. Yamanaka knows this guy?"

"He looks really sick. He looks like a zombie."

"I wonder what happened."

Sawako frantically reached into the car and opened the door to the driver's seat from the inside. "Haru? Haru!" She sat on and quickly grabbed Haru by the shoulders, shaking him hysterically while tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"Please wake up!" She sobbed as she kept shaking him, attempting to wake him up, even slapping him a couple of times in the face. "Please don't leave me!"

"H-Huh?"

Haru's eyes lazily fluttered open, finding himself being shaken so violently that it made him dizzy. He felt like he was about to vomit.

He stiffened himself, finally grabbing Sawako's attention and dropped his heavy hands on her shoulders. "Sawako. Sawako." He called sternly but calmly, his face still pale. He knew he really shouldn't have drunk all that bourbon this morning. Always a bad idea. "Just what the hell are you doing?"

"Wait, you're alive?" She looked up and blinked.

"Of course I am."

She immediately wiped of her tears and threw her arms up and around his neck, laughing in relief. "Oh, that's wonderful!" She said. "For a moment there, I actually thought you were dead."

Haru couldn't even handle all of this right now. He was seriously too nauseous to even think of anything.

_Where the heck is Yuji?_

He then noticed the crowd just outside the car. The girls of Sakuragaoka High, as well as a few teacher and janitors, were all looking at them. Some were whispering while some were giggling and blushing as they watched the two of them. He could also hear sirens getting louder by the second.

"Um, Sawako?" He inquired, pulling away from his girlfriend's embrace. "What the hell is going on here? Why are they staring at us?"

"Huh?"

"Sawako?"

"Oh, crap!"

* * *

><p>Haru bowed respectfully in front of the school principal of Sakuragaoka High. "I am terribly sorry for the trouble I've caused, sir." He said.<p>

Roughly about half an hour after the scene at the parking lot, the students were sent back to their rooms and Haru was sent to the principal's office, as if he actually studied there, along with Yuji and Sawako. The school principal, a balding middle-aged man named Kazuhiro Ishimoto, looked up at the young engineer as he sat behind his desk with a discontented frown on his wrinkled face. He obviously wasn't happy about what just happened.

He groaned. "So you're Ms. Yamanaka's boyfriend, Takeharu Sato." He said. "You know, you're quite popular amongst the students and teachers. They speak very highly of you, but I never really imagined having to meet you under these circumstances."

Kazuhiro really had been hearing quite a lot about him lately. He actually found his habit of sending flowers to Sawako every single day quite annoying. He made the entire faculty room look like a garden. He was also told that Haru was a Computer Engineering graduate from Columbia, so he expected the young man to somehow be more respectable and debonair than this. He definitely knew how to dress, but his eyes were bloodshot and his face was pale. He looked like an ordinary corporate worker who was also a zombie.

He tried his best not to judge the boy by his appearance, but he just couldn't help it.

Haru hung his head in embarrassment. "I know, sir. I'm really sorry."

The principal sighed heavily, unsure of how to handle the situation. "How many times are you going to apologize?" He asked. "Anyway, it's fine. No one was hurt, but you've caused quite the fuss. We even called the police, who came for nothing." He kept staring at Haru, who could only stare uncomfortably on the floor. He looked like he was too scared to talk, but he looked unusually calm about all this. "You could at least tell me how you managed to get yourself in such a situation."

"Well, um," Haru glanced at Yuji before he turned to the principal again. "It's actually a pretty long story, sir. And I wouldn't want to take up any more of your precious time."

"Nonsense." Kazuhiro scoffed. "I have time."

Haru's eyebrow twitched up in annoyance. This guy was starting to get on his nerves. _Believe me, old man, you don't. _He wanted to say. It won't be long before he gets tired of playing scared and grabs this man by his balding head and throws him out the window.

"Actually, sir. All of it was kind of my fault." Yuji raised his hand, finally speaking up. Everyone in the room turned to him curiously, and he chuckled as he walked closer to Mr. Ishimoto's desk, as if it really wasn't that big of a deal. "I was the one who brought him to school and left him at the parking lot."

"Oh, really?" Mr. Ishimoto raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Could you tell me who you are first?"

"Yuji. Yuji Hisaka. I'm one of Mr. Sato's colleagues from the Center."

Yuji swallowed anxiously. Suddenly it hit him. It was starting to feel more like a court trial than an actual conversation with a high school principal. He looked down at Mr. Ishimoto and almost peed his pants in his intimidating presence., but tried his best to keep his cool. _Oh no, I'm not gonna let this old geezer scare me._ He thought, chuckling quietly.

"I see." Said the principal. This kid looked just as dimwitted as Takeharu. He really couldn't believe that a teacher as sweet as Sawako could be friends with these delinquents. "Now please explain exactly why everything is your responsibility, Mr. Hisaka."

Sawako took a step closer. She was just as curious as everyone else.

Yuji cleared his throat before he began. "Well, you see, sir, I drove my friend Takeharu to school today because he still needed to pick up Ms. Yamanaka after school. And since we both work at a call center, our schedule is rather... irregular. Everyday we work from midnight until morning and we take breaks during daytime."

He paused for a moment and glanced at Haru, who nodded at him approvingly. Everything he had said so far was true. He knew he could count on Yuji in situations like this. He really was the master of excuses.

"You see, Takeharu worked a bit harder today so he became too tired to drive." Yuji continued. "I figured I could just take him to the school so we can sleep at the parking lot until five in the afternoon. But then at around lunch time I felt like I needed a cigarette break so I left him there for a while. By the time I got back, the police were there, everyone was there, and now here we are."

A long awkward pause followed Yuji's story.

Haru took a look around to see if everyone else had believed the slip. He chuckled nervously as soon as his eyes met Sawako's. She was looking up at him sympathetically, as if he was some sort of poor little puppy.

Mr. Ishimoto cleared his throat rather loudly, grasping everyone's attention. "You could have just taken Mr. Sato home instead of here." He said. "Why here?"

Yuji looked over at Haru, who was also looking at him. The older one could only shrug. The old man did have a point.

"Well, I..." Yuji really couldn't come up with anything else.

After a moment, the principal finally gave out another tired sigh and leaned back on his chair. "Well, anyway, judging by the looks on your faces, the story seems legitimate." He said. "Thankfully it all happened during lunch break, so you really didn't get to disturb any classes. Besides, I don't think I still have to knock some sense into the two of you. You're already adults, for heaven's sake."

Haru and Yuji looked at each other and chuckled while Sawako could only watch them, smiling. Boys will be boys, even if they were already a couple of grown men. She had probably already lost track of the times her boyfriend got himself in trouble, anyway.

"Oh, and Ms. Yamanaka?" He called out, triggering the teacher to come closer. "Please escort these 'boys' out of my office. Make sure they don't cause any more trouble."

Sawako nodded in response. "Yes, Principal."

* * *

><p>"Wow, that sure was something!" Yuji groaned rather loudly as he sat in one of the tables in the Sakuragaoka High school cafeteria with Haru and Sawako. Only ten minutes were left before vacant period officially ends, and most of the students were already starting to make their way back to their rooms so the three of them pretty much had the entire place all to themselves.<p>

"See you later, Miss Sawako." A couple of girls greeted as they left. Some of them took second glances at Haru, who completely ignored them.

He took a seat in front of his colleague and next to Sawako, who was fixing her skirt as she crossed her legs. "Yeah." He sighed. "I was actually starting to think he wasn't going to let us out."

"He totally looked like he had a man-crush on you, though!" Yuji cackled, almost falling back.

"Sawako, this is Yuji Hisaka. He's one of my co-workers that I told you about. I don't think I've introduced you yet." Haru told Sawako, who in response looked over to Yuji. He was still chuckling pretty impishly. Way to make a first impression in front of your best friend's girlfriend. Haru put a hand on his forehead. "And Yuji, this is Sawako."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Sawa-chan—er, I mean, Miss Yamanaka." Yuji grinned as he extended his hand across the table for a quick handshake, which Sawako hesitantly accepted.

His hand was moist and really heavy. She couldn't wait to let go.

She smiled back. "Likewise, Mr. Hisaka." She said. "Thank you for what you did for Haru this morning and for telling Principal Ishimoto the truth."

"The truth?" Yuji scoffed. He then looked at Haru, who shot a warning glance at him. It was exactly how he looks whenever he was just about to give him a quick punch in the face. "Uh, yeah, yeah. Of course. Right. The truth. Yeah, I couldn't really lie to such a scary man."

Sawako suspiciously raised an eyebrow. "Um, Hisaka-san?"

"Yes?"

"You're a terrible liar." She said straight up, but still managed to keep a calm demeanor. She let out a giggle and smiled at Yuji, but it suddenly absolutely terrified him. It was almost the same look that the girls he used to date used to give him when they were pissed. "I'd really appreciate it if you told me everything you forgot to tell the Principal."

_Yuji, you idiot._

Haru could only sigh in defeat. He nodded at his friend, urging him to just confess. He dreaded the fact that Yuji was such a bad liar when he talked to women. Then again, it would be better for them to tell Sawako everything before she goes into Death Devil mode.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not forcing you or anything." She said. "I just think it'd be better if you told me now. It's not like I'm gonna hurt you."

That really didn't make the poor guy feel any better.

After a while, Yuji finally swallowed and cleared his throat. "Well, you see..." He stammered. "What I told Mr. Ishimoto wasn't exactly that far from the truth, but I may have made up some of it."

"Like what?"

Haru suddenly stood up. "Screw this, I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat." He declared. He then looked down at his girlfriend. "Have you already had lunch?"

"Well, not really." Because of the ruckus these two made earlier, she had completely forgotten about lunch. She put a hand on her stomach. Thinking about it actually made her a lot hungrier.

"That's no good." Haru sighed and shook his head. "What do you usually eat here?"

"Usually just some cake and tea at the music room, but since the girls are having their classes, that's not really an option now." Said Sawako.

"But you have to eat something." He insisted.

"What about me, Haru-chan? Aren't you going to ask me to eat too?" Yuji purred like a little girl, pouting at his friend. "I'm feeling a bit hungry too."

Haru just looked at him. "Oh, shut up, Yuji." He then pulled out his wallet from his jacket and scanned if he still had some money to pay for the food he was about to buy since he's been using his credit cards and cheques a lot lately. Perhaps he was acting more like an elite snob than he'd thought. He groaned at the thought of it.

Sawako and Yuji watched him as he approached the counter and talked to the lunch lady. As he expected, she was an overweight woman old enough to be his mother. She didn't look all that grumpy, though. In fact, she looked like she was in a good mood.

"What can I do for you?" She asked him.

He looked down at the food prepared behind the glass and put a hand on his chin as he tried to figure out which ones to pick.

"Whoa, that's crazy cheap." He mumbled to himself upon seeing the prices.

While Haru was busy with the food, Yuji tapped his fingers against Sawako's arm so he could get her attention. "You know, he looks like he cares a lot about you. It's not all the time I get to see him badger someone else just to eat." He chuckled.

"Yeah, he's really sweet." She nodded. "But sometimes he cares so much about me that he forgets to take care of himself. Like today."

"That's Takeharu for 'ya. A professional in the engineering world but a total idiot when it comes to everything else."

Sawako leaned with her elbow against the table and looked at Yuji curiously. "So, would you mind telling me what you're supposed to tell me now?" She said, giggling. "Did you seriously think you could make me forget all about that by talking about Haru? Oh, Mr. Hisaka, you're pretty funny."

Yuji couldn't help but chuckle nervously. "Right. That."

"Well?"

"Well, it's not that big of a deal, really." Said Yuji. "Haru just got himself drunk in his office again and got into a pretty stupid fight with his brother. I really couldn't let him drive all by himself so I drove him here and let him rest until he was sober again, and I couldn't take him home where his brother was, Haru'd probably kill me."

Sawako sighed and let her right palm hit her flat on the face. "I told him to minimize his drinking. He is just so stubborn."

"It's not his fault. His family being around is just a lot to handle, I guess." He shrugged.

She blinked. "His family?" She inquired. "Come to think of it, he's been quite distant lately, especially about that topic. Maybe that's the reason. He hasn't even taken me to meet them."

"I'm sure he's just getting cold feet." Yuji assured her. He noticed that Sawako was looking pretty worried. "But he's taking you out tonight on a date, right?"

"Yeah, with Takahiro-san and his wife."

Yuji leaned back on his seat. "See? Maybe he's just taking things one step at a time. He's not the hurrying type, after all. You shouldn't worry so much."

"I guess you're right." Sawako said with a sigh.

"Hey, guys. Check this out." Haru said as he came back with a tray containing their lunch and an astonished grin on his tired face. He returned to his seat next to Sawako and put the tray on the table.

He had bought two grilled cheese sandwiches and two cans of orange soda for Yuji and himself, while he bought something completely different for their female companion. For Sawako, he bought a strawberry yogurt and a salad plate, along with a cup of hot water with a Lipton tea bag and a lemon slice on a saucer. She knew she was a freak about these things, wanting to maintain her slim figure, and he really didn't mind, as long as she was healthy and maintained an adequate diet. He wouldn't leave her anyway even if she got all chubby, but she really doesn't seem to get that at all, just like most girls.

The way he saw it, women cared about only two things: what to wear and how they're going to fit into it.

Sawako looked down at her meal, thoroughly confused. Haru surprisingly got everything right, even though she would have preferred a lemon yogurt than strawberry. "Thanks." She said, smiling up at him.

"Wow," Yuji said as he looked at her food as well. "That's quite a diet, Miss Sawako!"

Haru ignored his friend and hope that it didn't offend her. "So, what did you guys talk about while I was away?"

"Oh, nothing. Hisaka-san just told me how you got yourself drunk again this morning." Sawako said rather giddily while she glared at her boyfriend, who flinched at what she just said. He almost dropped his sandwich. "I told you time and time again, Haru, to drink moderately." She scolded.

He watched her as she quietly peeled back the top of her yogurt with a childish pout while Yuji just observed them as he ate. He found it pretty amazing how Sawako could go from devilishly intimidating to high school ticked.

"Sorry." Haru finally said, looking down at his soda. "There's just a lot going on right now. I guess I couldn't help it."

Sawako turned to him again. "Then why don't you talk to me about it?" She insisted. "I'm your girlfriend, right?"

_Oh, you have got to be kidding me._

Haru looked at her and noticed that she looked pretty serious already. He mentally slapped himself in the face. Was she really going to force an argument at such a time, right in front of Yuji? He sighed tiredly at it. "I said I was sorry." He said. "It won't happen again."

"That's not what I'm upset about, you know." She said. "We're a couple now. You're always there whenever I have my own problems, so why can't you trust me with yours?"

Yuji flinched as Haru suddenly glared at him. "What'd you tell her, anway?" He demanded.

"N-Nothing!" Yuji almost shouted.

"He has nothing to do with it, Haru." Said Sawako. "Why didn't you tell me you were having a hard time with your family? I could have helped you out."

Haru bit his lip. So that's what she was so upset about. Suddenly the very reason why he almost never takes girls seriously was starting to resurface. They take commitments too seriously, and were rather clingy about even the smallest things. Sawako was currently manifesting that idea. "It's really not that big of a deal, anyway." He insisted. "They're just being a little troublesome, but I'll get used to them eventually. They'll be leaving after a couple of weeks, anyway."

Sawako sighed. He clearly wasn't getting the message. "You just don't get it at all, do you? It's not about them. It's about you. About us."

That was when Haru realized that he and Sawako had never really gotten into a fight before. Actually, she has never been this mad at him before. Over something as trivial as this problem with his family? What the hell is wrong with her? She was acting like an annoying schoolgirl.

_This is such a drag._

Haru took a mental sigh and looked down at Sawako, his expression changing from looking baked to being completely remorseful. Getting into a fight with Sawako was only going to give him even more stress, and he really has more than enough right now, so instead of standing up for what he believed was the best way to fix his problem, he tried to think of something sweet and charming to say so that she'd calm down. He knew she wouldn't be able to resist him for too long, anyway.

Yuji suspiciously raised an eyebrow as he watched his friend's ridiculous transformation. He looked like one of those leading men in the cheesy dramas he watched on TV. Must've been the bourbon. What the hell was he up to?

"You're right. You're absolutely right." Haru said softly, causing Sawako to almost drop the yogurt she was holding. She looked up at him while her hand was still keeping the little spoon in her mouth.

_Oh. My. God._

Haru suddenly looked so hot, making that pouty face. Sawako thought it was the most adorable thing in the world and wanted to rip all of her clothes off and leap forward so she could kiss him like crazy. It felt like the first time she's ever laid eyes on him, and like before, she was puking rainbows.

Yuji shook his head in disgust. "Oh good lord, you have got to be kidding me." He mumbled.

"H-Haru..." She struggled to say, but everything died down her throat. Haru's got her right where he wants her.

Haru gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before he showed his signature smirk and looked deep into her eyes. Trying to manipulate her like this certainly didn't feel good, but he had no choice. "I'm really sorry, baby. I just didn't want to worry you. You were busy enough with work, and all that."

"Oh, nonsense!" Sawako gasped dramatically, throwing herself into Haru's arms and creeping the hell out of Yuji. She was being just as weird as Haru. Just what the hell is wrong with these two?

He's had enough of this cheesy lovey-dovey crap. He immediately stood up and slammed his hands against the table, catching the couple's attention. "Please... please excuse me." He said, and quickly made his way to the men's room to vomit, leaving Haru and Sawako to both stare after him in confusion.

* * *

><p>"I'll just pick you up later, okay?"<p>

Sawako nodded as she leaned into the open window to the Innova's driver's seat and gave Haru a soft kiss. Right after they made up and had their lunch, Yuji and Haru prepared to leave since Sawako still had a couple of classes for the rest of the afternoon and the two of them still had to go home and get some rest.

Haru smiled and waved before he finally closed the window and turned on the engine. He glanced over at Yuji, who was still rather horrified with what he saw during lunch break. "What's up with you?" Haru scoffed.

Haru was still looking at Sawako as she made her way back into the main building when Yuji turned to him lazily. "You're crazy?"

"What? I'm crazy?" Haru said, raising an eyebrow. "Just how am I crazy?"

"I can't believe Sawako totally fell for your pretty boy masquerade." He scoffed. "You know you really have to teach me how to do stuff like that."

Haru could help but laugh as he finally hit the gas and started to drive out of the school grounds and into the streets, taking the route to Yuji's apartment first. "It's actually been a while since I did something like that." He admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I really feel bad for doing that to her. But I had no choice."

"Rubbish." Yuji jeered.

"It's true, you idiot." Haru scoffed. He kept his eyes on the road. "If I hadn't done that, we would have had our first fight. Right in front of you, no less."

"And what's wrong with that? It could've been hot."

"No, it would have been even more stressful than before. In case you hadn't noticed, I was still pretty drunk when she decided to act like my mom." He groaned. "I wouldn't have been able to handle it if she went all out."

"You know what you need, buddy?" Yuji grinned deviously. "Sober juice. Lots of it."

Haru shook his head. "I'm not drinking any beer, Yuji."

"Oh, right. I forgot you still had a date." Yuji said. "I guess you'll be needing a lot of mental preparation for all that, huh."

"Come on, you make it sound like I'm heading to my execution."

Then again, he probably was.


	7. Chapter 7, Part I: Chicken Bumping

**A/N:** _Hey, guys. I apologize for the late update since I've been a lot busier than I expected lately. Hopefully now I can have more time to write. This time, though, I think I got a little too carried away with my writing, and so I ended up writing a lot more than usual for one chapter, which was just supposed to be a quick interlude. As a result, I had to split the chapter in two. I hope that won't bother anybody._

_Also, I don't think this story is going to be concluded any time soon. To be honest with you guys, I only planned for this story to be quick and light, but something suddenly inspired me by the time I was writing the fourth and sixth chapters, so it ended up as it is now._

_Well, I guess I've shared enough so far. I hope you guys enjoy, and please do review, tell me what you think. :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

_Date Night, Part 1: Chicken Bumping_

Sawako took a quick glance at her wristwatch as she sat on one of the benches in front of her apartment building while waiting for Haru and his family to pick her up. It was only six, though, a little early considering they agreed to meet at six-thirty.

She sat with her legs pressed together. She was still pretty nervous. She was going to meet Haru's brother his wife for the first time, and judging from the way he had talked to her before over the phone, Takahiro sounded like a pretty nice guy, but she still couldn't help but wonder if he was just that way because he was with his brother. Was he anything like Haru? Was he gallant? Was he obnoxious? Was he better? Or was he worse? Haru never really gave her a proper description of him. In fact, he has never really given her any decent description of each of the members of his family. All she knew was that he had a mother, a father, a sister, and a brother. That's pretty much it.

It wasn't long before she heard the sound of an engine coming her way, accompanied by lights getting brighter as the familiar vehicle got closer.

Haru pulled over right in front of where Sawako sat, much to her surprise, and lowered the window beside him, smiling upon making eye contact with his beautiful girlfriend. "I'm sorry, have you been waiting long?" He asked.

She stood up immediately, seeing a man who appeared in his late twenties along with a woman waving at her from behind the window at the back of the car. She blinked at first, but soon smiled back. It must have been Takahiro and his wife Alyssa. "No, not really." She said, turning to Haru again.

"Hop in, then." He urged, unlocking the door that led to the seat right beside him.

As soon as Sawako stepped in and sat down, Haru leaned in and greeted her properly by planting a quick kiss on her lips, causing her to blush. Until now, she still wasn't used to how affectionate Haru was, but for some reason he was in such a good mood considering the pretty crappy afternoon he has had.

Perhaps Yuji gave him a couple of chill pills to swallow before he went home.

Takahiro leaned forward with a lighthearted grin. "So, you're Sawako Yamanaka." He said. "Well, aren't you a fine woman. My brother certainly knows how to pick the good ones."

Sawako studied the man from head to toe. He had the same build and hair color as Haru, only his was darker and he was significantly taller. Unlike Takeharu, though, he seemed quite flamboyant, judging the way he dressed. He was wearing a dark suit but with no tie, with a pair of leather brogues. He also wore a Tag Heuer wristwatch to complete the ensemble. He looked positively dashing—but mostly just expensive.

She laughed nervously and blushed at his compliment. "Thanks, I guess. It's nice to finally meet you, Takahiro-san."

"Call me Hiro." He said, he then pointed to his wife. "And this is my amazing wife, Alyssa."

Alyssa greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, as if they were already close friends. Much like her husband, she also dressed quite expensively. She was only wearing a blue evening dress and a pair of velvet mules, but everything she wore looked just as expensive as what her husband wore. Sawako suddenly felt underdressed. "It's nice to meet you, Sawako, and please do excuse my husband. He gets really excited when he meets Takeharu's friends." She said, giggling. The way her voice sounded so cultured; not exactly British but definitely Ivy League.

They both looked like nice people, though.

Haru could only sigh quietly from where he was and proceeded to drive again. He took a quick glance at Sawako as he drove. "Fasten your seatbelt, sweetie."

Sawako looked down and noticed it herself. "Oh, right."

"So tell us about yourself, Sawako." Alyssa pried, causing Haru to frown._ Here comes the interrogation. _"Haru really hasn't told us that much about you besides the fact that you're his girlfriend."

"Yeah, he's really secretive about these things, I have no idea why." Hiro added, giving his little brother a mischievous look through the rear-view mirror.

Haru only glared back, daring him to go on.

"Well," Sawako looked up and actually thought of a decent way of introducing herself. These people could be her future in-laws, after all. She sat up straight before she spoke again. "I'm a music teacher at Sakuragaoka High. I used to play in a..." She suddenly stopped right then and there, mentally cursing herself for almost sharing the fact that she used to be a part of a death metal band. It certainly wasn't the kind of thing you'd share to get a good first impression. Haru quickly noticed this and chuckled quietly. "Er, I mean... I used to play the guitar, but that's pretty much it."

Hiro laughed inwardly. He really wasn't a lawyer for nothing. This girl was definitely hiding something, and whatever it was, it was probably something really embarrassing, or perhaps scandalous. He couldn't wait to expose it.

"That's amazing." Alyssa commented. "You know, Haru used to be into music too back when he was in high school. He played the bass, it was so adorable."

"Yeah, he told me about that. It's just too bad he doesn't play anymore." Sawako said, glancing over at Haru, who looked pretty occupied with his driving, as usual, when he was actually listening attentively to their conversation.

Hiro shrugged. "Yeah, we didn't know why he quit either."

"I decided it really wasn't my thing." Haru finally spoke up.

"Yeah, right." Hiro mocked.

Alyssa then clasped her hands together, as something suddenly came to mind. "Oh, by the way, how did you and Haru meet? That's what I'm most curious about." She said giddily.

Sawako giggled back at Alyssa's eagerness. She really knew how to make her feel like they've known each other for years.

Haru smiled just thinking about it, getting a bit nostalgic. It hasn't even been that long, but he was quite fond of the memories of when he first met Sawako and the first time they actually kissed that night at the Luca Label. The anniversary was already marked on the calendar in his mobile phone.

"It wasn't all that exciting, you see." Sawako said.

"Well, we'd still like to know." Alyssa replied, grinning. "Was it love at first sight? Haru _is_ quite handsome." That compliment made the young man blush. Now he was even more curious about how Sawako was going to answer that question.

Sawako really wanted to just nod and say yes excitedly, but as much as possible, she wanted to stay poised, even though she completely agreed with it being love at first sight. "Well, I guess you could say that." She admitted calmly. "We just bumped into each other in front of the school one day. He kind of knocked me over and helped me pick up everything I dropped."

Alyssa couldn't help but let out a fond sigh. "Ah, that is such a classic!" She exclaimed. "Haru, you charmer! Being all polite and cute! When did you learn to move like that?"

"I just thought that was the right thing to do." Haru said, chuckling, keeping his eyes on the road. "She forgot one of the test papers, though, so I had to return it to her the next day myself."

"Oh, so it really was love at first sight!" Alyssa told Sawako.

"How can you tell?" She asked.

Alyssa turned to Haru. "You gave the papers to her personally the next day, right?"

"Yep. That's right." Haru nodded in and stole a glance at his sister-in-law via the rear-view mirror. "Is there a problem with that?"

Hiro realized what his wife was trying to say and joined in to her interrogation. "If that's the case, why didn't you just return it to the school and surrender it to someone instead of going through so much trouble?" He inquired, smiling impishly. "That is so unlike you, brother."

That actually made Sawako think about it for a moment. She then looked at Haru, and he glanced back with a nervous smile, getting all flustered.

Perhaps Alyssa was right. Maybe Haru already fell for her that day too.

* * *

><p>After about an hour and a half of Alyssa and Hiro practically harassing Sawako with a bombardment of personal questions, the group finally arrived at Upper Heaven, one of the largest shopping malls in the country that stretched beautifully along the bay. The place consisted of four to five buildings interconnected by walkways, and was large enough to be considered a small city. They even had a huge bronze globe in the middle of the roundabout right in front of the main building that reminded Haru a lot about the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park back in New York.<p>

Sawako stared up in awe as they slowly drove right past the gigantic globe. It really wasn't her first time here; she had been to Upper Heaven a couple of times before, only to sit by the bay and watch the sunset, since it was one of the best spots in town to just sit down, shut up, and watch the sun go down while having a good drink, even though the malls were crawling with the elite snobs of the country's higher society, kind of like Haru's family, only they weren't really that stuck-up. The experience was simple, but the feeling it gave was just wonderful. A lot of people did the same thing, just sitting there, drinking a can of soda or two (alcoholic beverages weren't allowed in the bay area, since people who've gotten drunk there have actually tried jumping on the rocks until they reached the water to swim with their clothes on). The bay was probably even a lot more popular than the malls themselves.

The mall was true to its name, though—Upper Heaven was a haven for the elite, housing the most expensive stores and restaurants in the country, most of which are from foreign countries.

The Sato brothers were no strangers to this place either, since it was one of their favorite hangouts when they were younger, and they'd usually spend their time playing at the open park by the bay, at the back of the mall.

"So, where do you guys want to go first?" Haru asked.

"How about you park this old thing first? Then we'll talk about it." Said Hiro, sitting back and tilting his head as he watched the scene outside the car.

"Actually, that's why I asked." Haru frowned. "This place has two parking buildings—north and south, in case you've forgotten, and it's pretty big, so we should park near our first destination so we wouldn't have to waste time walking."

Hiro groaned. "Oh, right." He then turned to Alyssa. "What about you, baby? Where do you want to go first?"

"What? Why ask me? This is my first time here." She giggled.

"Are you hungry?" Haru asked Sawako, trying to keep his eyes on the road. "How about we grab a bite to eat first?"

"Well, I haven't really had dinner yet." Said Sawako.

Alyssa nodded in reply. "Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." She said. "That way, we can shop with enough energy and without any interruptions."

It took a while before that registered into Sawako's mind. "What?" She suddenly asked. "Shop without any interruptions?"

The boys couldn't help but chuckle in unison, and Alyssa just smiled at her as sweetly as she possibly could. Alyssa liked talking as if shopping was her job. It wasn't much of a surprise, though, since the two of them both knew that she takes shopping quite seriously, even back in New York, and usually their shopping trips ended up with the two brothers being treated like bellboys, having to carry everything she buys, which is usually a lot. She was probably already a better shopper than she was a stockbroker. Well, girls will be girls, and Haru felt like Sawako was going to suffer with the boys, too. He just hoped she wouldn't drag Sawako too much into it.

"It's decided, then." Haru said. "Let me just find a good place to park."

* * *

><p>Haru eventually found an empty slot and left his Innova at the north carpark building and soon the four of them found themselves walking along the bay, looking for a nice place to dine amongst the long dining strip of bistros and specialty restaurants that stretched all the way to the other end of the supermall.<p>

Sawako held her boyfriend's hand as they both watched the large ferris wheel slowly rotating a still a little farther up. The music from the open hovered along the pathway and onto the darkened bay, where one of the yachts just passed by, and the lights that came from the park illuminated the area quite adequately. In fact, it may just be much brighter than the lighting from the shopping malls. Sawako found it simple, yet absolutely stunning, and it was even better now that Haru was with her.

Takahiro and Alyssa walked just a few steps behind the younger couple, and noticed the way Haru looked at Sawako—it was as if he didn't want to look at anything else. A little more and he could be drooling like a little boy. He held on to his girlfriend's hand as he put it in the pocket of his wool and cashmere pea coat to keep it warm, causing Hiro to smirk knowingly.

"So, Takeharu." He called, purposely pulling them out of their own little world. "Thought of a place to take these girls to yet?"

"I was kind of waiting for you to decide. You know this place better than I do, after all."

"But there are a lot of restaurants here that I like."

"Then just pick one." Haru sighed. "Jesus."

Hiro gave up and turned to Alyssa. "How about you, baby? Did you find any restaurant you'd like to try?"

"Oh, dear." Alyssa laughed. "You just want me to decide for you."

"Well, it's not like that. See, I don't really care where we eat, as long as you girls enjoy the place you choose." Hiro retorted with his signature debonair smirk.

Haru stared at his brother, then at Alyssa. Looks like she completely fell for it. _Nice save._

"How about that place?" Sawako suggested, pointing up at a bistro along the dining strip, causing Haru and the others to follow her finger and look at where she was pointing.

The Sato brothers looked at each other and grinned. Sawako was pointing at one of their favorite hangouts at Upper Heaven—The Belle of the Boulevard, a bar and restaurant known for featuring locally renowned bands every Friday and Saturday. Although they weren't sure if it was still the way it was after all these years. A lot of things can change in such a time.

The four of them approached the settlement, hearing the sound of alternative rock and jazz music coming from inside._ Well, at least their musical preferences haven't changed. _Haru thought.

"You have good taste, Sawako." Said Hiro. "Haru and I used to come here all the time back when he was still in high school."

"Yeah, brings back a lot of memories, doesn't it?" Haru said.

Alyssa looked down and read the poster just by the front door; luckily for her, everything was written in simple English, although she could notice that some phrases were grammatically incorrect, which was a common mistake for the Japanese, anyway, so she really couldn't blame them. Besides, nobody's perfect. "Look. Apparently there's a live band playing tonight." She said.

Haru looked up at the notice board. The name of the band was written in Japanese, so Alyssa couldn't read it anymore. "Wow. Bump of Chicken." He said.

"Bump of what?" Alyssa asked.

"Bump of Chicken, dear. It's a local rock band." Said Hiro. He then turned to the others. "Looks like we're in luck. The guest performer's your favorite too."

Haru grinned in response. He looked over to Sawako. "Well?"

"Well, if you guys want to dine here, that's fine with me." She said. "I'm not really that picky."

Everyone then turned to Alyssa, causing her to flinch. "It's fine with me, too. It looks like a pretty nice place." She said. "Plus, the name of the band sounds… pretty funny. I like it."

"Hey, don't be like that. It's one of Haru's favorite bands growing up." Hiro laughed. "Now let's get inside already!"

They all nodded in unison and stepped inside the establishment, with the grouchy-looking security guard pushing the glass door open for them. It was still pretty early, but he looked like he was already having the worst day of his life. Haru just hoped that wouldn't jinx what was, so far, such a good date.

* * *

><p>The interior of the Belle was quite 'burlesque' and elegant, but at the same time very 60's jazz and contemporary, decorated in deep shades of red and violets to impart that certain aura of relaxation as well as mystery to its customers. The vibrant bar area wears black and red stripes, and in the dining room, engraved glass panels rub shoulders with antique mirrors while hanging sconces pour pensively over crimson banquettes. The boys initially thought that the girls were going to find the place peculiar, but once they got inside, they were just amazed.<p>

Haru was greeted by a cashier near the entrance. "Good evening, sir. What can I do for you?" She inquired, completely ignoring the other three.

"Table for four, please." He said. "And we're going to see the band."

Haru waited for the young cashier as she made loud typing noises on her keyboard and glanced down at her monitor. She then looked up at Haru again. "That would be 1,100 yen each, sir." She said. "Meals can be ordered once you are shown to your table."

Sawako walked over to his side with her wallet in hand. "How much is the entrance fee?" She asked him.

Haru just chuckled and held her hand. "No, that's okay. My brother and I are paying for everything tonight, so you can relax."

He then turned back to the cashier and gave her of his credit cards, and she swiftly punched the card though the machine and handed it back to him, along with four tickets. "Here." Haru said, handing one ticket to his girlfriend before walking back towards his group and giving them all a ticket each.

Sawako looked down and saw the price, almost dropping her jaw all the way to the floor. "Good grief. 1,100 yen?"

Hiro dropped a rather heavy hand on the teacher's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Miss Sawako." He grinned. "You're gonna have to get used to it, too. You're dating Haru, after all."

Before she could speak again, Alyssa grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along with her as the four of them went further inside, where they were greeted by a waitress. "Table for four, sir?" She asked Haru, once again completely ignoring the other three.

Haru was starting to notice this, and so he made sure he was holding Sawako's hand in plain sight before he answered. "Yeah."

The waitress cleared her throat before she led them further inside and ushered them to a table by the window, giving them a nice view of the bay as well as the small stage inside, where the crew from the bar were still setting up. It was still a good half-hour before the performance officially begins anyway.

As soon as everyone was seated, the waitress handed them all a menu booklet each, giving Haru a suggestive smile as she gave him his.

"Thanks." He said, curling up the corners of his lips to force a smile. "Choosing might take us a while, so why don't we just call you when we're done talking about our order?" He suggested.

"Of course, sir." The waitress replied. Thankfully she got the message.

The four of them eyed her as she purposefully strode away to take care of the other occupied tables, and as soon as she was out of sight, Haru let out a huge sigh in relief, causing his older brother to laugh at him.

He leaned in and grinned. "Still pretty popular with the ladies, I see."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Haru mumbled.

Alyssa looked at Sawako while the boys were talking, noticing that she looked more worried about ordering than the way the waitress just tried to hit on her boyfriend. Perhaps she didn't notice, or she just chose to ignore it. If that was the case, then thank God she wasn't the jealous type, or else there's going to be trouble.

Things like this just came with dating someone like Takeharu Sato. It was the same with Takahiro back when they were still just dating. Back then, it just felt like whenever the girls would catch a glimpse of the lawyer from Columbia, they'd fawn over him as if he were some sort of movie star—Hiro was just charismatic that way, and she was sure that the same thing went for his little brother. They definitely weren't that similar when it came to their personalities, but they were both handsome and charming in their own way, and of course, things like that inevitably and unfortunately attract a lot of ladies. Alyssa found it amazing that Sawako was smart enough to understand that. Looks like the girl just earned even more of her respect.

Haru leaned over to Sawako, spontaneously giving her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to jump a little. "What will you be having?" He asked. "And I don't want you going all diet-y on me tonight. You need to eat, eat, eat!"

Sawako scoffed. "You're one to talk!" She argued. She didn't even notice how Haru was being unusually merry. "Look at how thin you are!"

"I'm not thin!" Haru said with a little laugh.

"Yes, you are! You're probably already thinner than Ritsu, and that girl's already pretty thin herself."

"What? I'm not that thin." Haru then turned to Alyssa. "Am I?"

"Well, you have lost some weight, Takeharu. What have you been eating? Or what haven't you been eating?" Alyssa said.

Haru groaned in disbelief. "Come on, you too?" He laughed. "My muscles are just a little compact, that's all."

"Well, whatever diet you're taking, stop it." Said Hiro. "Or else you won't have any muscles left in you."

There was a short pause before all four of them burst out laughing. It was probably Haru's first sincere laugh in a while, and the first time he's laughed with his brother in years, much to his surprise. It was relieving, though.

But suddenly, their laughter was cut off by a pair of heavy, sweaty hands slamming against the table, grabbing the attention of all four of them. They all looked up in horror, but as soon as the Sato brothers recognized the middle aged man with a bald head and a beer belly standing right in front of them, surprised smiles suddenly began to surface on their faces.

He frowned down at them. "What the hell is with all this noise?"

"Masashi-san!" They yelled in unison as they stood up to give him a warm hug, causing the old man to laugh. The girls could only look up at them curiously.

The loveable old man known as Masashi Sakamoto, who was the owner of the Belle of the Boulevard, returned the greeting and ruffled the Sato brothers' heads as if they were still the little kids he remembered them to be, letting out a rather loud laugh. That actually made them feel like the young, stupid boys they once were, as if nostalgia just came charging and slapped them both right in the face. "When I heard that the Sato brothers were back in my bistro, I just had to come and see for myself." He said. He then looked up at Hiro. "You're still pretty much the golden boy, I see." He observed. He then turned to Haru. "And you've lost a lot weight!"

The old man called out to one of the waitresses. "Get us five Martinis here, will ya? On the house!" And almost immediately, another waitress rushed in front of their table with a tray in hand and distributed the cocktail glasses.

Sawako just laughed at the corner. Obviously she and Alyssa weren't the only ones who've noticed Haru's drastic weight loss.

Mr. Sakamoto, or Mr. Mash, as his regulars liked to call him, was a merry old man. He was bald and was quite short, and was wearing a black, double breasted suit. He had a loud laugh, and just like Haru, he was a musician. He was practically the boys' second father, since their own biological father usually couldn't tend to them that often. It's been more than half a decade since they've seen each other, so one could just imagine how happy the three of them were.

"You haven't changed a bit, Mr. Mash." Said Haru. "It's nice to see you're still running the Belle. I can't really imagine the place without you."

"Of course!" Laughed Mr. Mash. "This place is me. By the way, how did that engineering gig in New York go? Did you manage to finish it?"

Haru nodded proudly. "Yeah. It took me a while, though. I just recently finished."

"Oh, so you came to my bistro so you can brag about it, huh?" The old man laughed, ruffling the poor boy's hair again, causing him to laugh too. Mr. Mash then turned to Hiro. "What about you? I heard from Takumi that you studied to become a lawyer."

"A very handsome one at that, don't you agree, Mr. Mash?" Hiro grinned.

"And you still haven't changed, Takahiro." Mr. Mash said. He the noticed how Sawako and Alyssa were looking up at the three of them, listening to their rather boyish conversation and laughed in embarrassment. "Oh! We're being completely rude to these very beautiful women." He turned to the boys. "Are they your dates?"

"All right, back off, old man. That's my wife right there." Hiro laughed.

Haru smiled. "Yeah, and that's my girlfriend."

Mr. Mash couldn't help but cackle incredulously. He couldn't tell which news surprised him more: the fact that Hiro finally stopped his womanizing and got himself a wife—a foreign one at that—or Takeharu finally taking dating seriously enough to actually call a girl his girlfriend and look happy about it.

The boys really have grown up to be fine men, in both work and matters in relationships. Mr. Mash really couldn't be any prouder.

He extended a hand to Alyssa first, then Sawako, and they both gladly accepted the handshakes. "I'm Alyssa Sato." Said Alyssa, and Sawako also courteously introduced herself. "I'm Sawako Yamanaka. A pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, ladies." Mr. Mash let his gaze linger on to Sawako. There was something about her that was quite familiar, he just couldn't figure out what it was.

The boys made their way back to their seats beside their respective dates while Mr. Mash grabbed a nearby chair and sat with them, stealing glances at the stage as he did so. He then looked over at Haru again and grinned. "What luck. Bump of Chicken's one of your favorite bands, right? By the way, kiddo, do you still play with your band?"

Haru shook his head as he took a sip from his drink. "Ah, no. Our last gig was before I left for New York, though I still played bass during college. I haven't seen them since we graduated high school."

"What about now?"

"I don't think I'm that rusty yet, but no, I don't play anymore."

"Aw, that's too bad. I was going to invite you to play again some time. You boys still have a number of fans here, you know."

"So I've noticed." Haru groaned.

"See, pops, the cashier and that cocktail waitress tried to hit on him earlier." Hiro explained with a laugh. "It was pretty damn hilarious."

Mr. Mash couldn't help but laugh too. "Ah, so that's it!" He said. "Good to know you haven't lost your lady killer traits, kid. It's a good thing your girlfriend here doesn't seem like the jealous type."

Sawako only giggled in response, and Haru held her hand with conviction. "Of course not, pops. We trust each other."

The old man nodded approvingly. "Well, that's good to know." Suddenly, the bartender called out to him, and he nodded to acknowledge that. He then stood back up, pushing his seat back and straightening his suit. He cleared his throat, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have a restaurant to manage. Ask for me if you need anything at all, and don't forget to stop by my office before you leave."

"Yes, boss." The boys said in unison.

"Again, it was nice meeting you girls." He told Sawako and Alyssa. "But, as much as I want to hear all about how these boys managed to entice you, I am a very busy man. Excuse me."

The girls just giggled in response.

The four of them watched Mr. Mash as he left and went straight to the back of the stage, assisting the members of Bump of Chicken as they arrived from the back door and started fixing their instruments onstage. Hiro and Alyssa went back to discussing what they wanted to order after Alyssa commented on how delightful the old man was while Haru poured all of his attention to watching the band set up. Sawako just looked down at the menu and tried to find the cheapest meal on the list, after being told that the Sato brothers were going to pay for everything for the night, but so far all she could see were names of food she has never heard of before and prices that were way beyond her reach.

Damn, these brothers sure know how to make remind a girl that she's poor and feel bad about it.

It wasn't entirely a bad thing, though. At least, whatever she was getting, she was going to get for free, though it did feel a little heavy on her conscience since Haru already paid her entrance fee. She didn't want to increase the weight of that debt any further.

"Something wrong?" Haru asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

Sawako shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I just don't know what to order. Can I just have whatever you're having?"

_Ah, what the hell._

"Sure, I guess." He looked down at the menu Sawako was holding. "It's been a while since I've eaten here, so a lot of things may have changed about the menu. How about we play it safe with the, uh… Organic Chicken for Two?"

She looked up at him, and he just shrugged. "What? You told me I was thin."

"Okay, sounds good." She nodded favorably.

"All right, then." Haru then turned to Hiro and Alyssa. "What about you guys? Have you decided on anything yet?"

"Yeah." Said Hiro. "What about you?"

Haru only nodded in response.

Hiro waited a couple of seconds and looked at his brother, who was only staring at nothing, before it became ridiculous. He impatiently raised an eyebrow at his little brother. "Call the waitress so we can order, then." He directed.

"No, you do it." Haru whispered rather loudly, causing the other three to laugh again. They knew exactly why Haru was behaving like that, and Hiro understood, so he raised his hand to summon another waitress. He then affirmed their order, and after jotting everything down, she strode diligently back to the kitchen. All that's left to do now was to watch the band as they waited for their food.

The tapping of an open microphone was heard, causing everyone to turn to the stage. The band had just finished setting up and was about to play their first song. The stage lights were rather dim, but were arranged in a way that only the band was fully illuminated. The band vocalist, Motoo Fujiwara, smiled at the audience and said, "Good evening to everyone at the Belle. I hope everyone's having a good night so far." He lifted the microphone up so it was at the same level as his mouth. "We want everyone to have a nice drinking and dining experience while they're here, so I hope you guys don't mind if we played nice and slow."

Motoo turned to his bandmates to check if they were ready. After the three nodded back at him, he sat back on his stool and held on to his Fender Dreadnought acoustic guitar. Hideo, the drummer, counted up to four using his drumsticks and the band began playing the intro to the acoustic rendition of one of their most popular singles, which Haru recognized as the song _Karma_. The arrangement was a bit slower than the original, but they maintained the song's upbeat feel.

Haru glanced over at Sawako, who was smiling as she watched the band performed, mouthing the lyrics. It made him smile, seeing that she was familiar with the band and was having a good time watching them. Alyssa looked like she was enjoying the band too.

Though something hidden behind a curtain on one corner of the stage caught his eye. It was a left-handed Fender Jazz Bass 65, sitting right next to a red Fender Telecaster, which was also left-handed. Haru assumed that since none of the members of the band were left-handed, the instruments must have belonged to Mr. Mash. Haru remembered the old playing a little guitar, and joked a lot about how they were both left-handed.

"Maybe he's going to perform." Haru mumbled to himself. He took a quick sip from his martini until only the olive was left.

Sawako noticed this and put a hand on his lap. "Easy on the cocktail, sweetie."

"Yeah, sorry." He chuckled.

* * *

><p>With one final chord, the band finished their second song, earning the applause of everyone dining inside the Belle of the Boulevard, with Hiro clapping his hands a bit louder than the others.<p>

A waitress then came to their table, serving the appetizers which included some Maine lobster salad and some twice-baked upside-down comte cheese soufflé. Sawako looked down at the food; she has never really experienced this before, and now that she was about to, she was just thrilled.

As they prepared to eat, the band also prepared their next song. "Our next song is a cover of Porno Graffiti's Melissa." Motoo announced. Sawako looked up. It was one of her old favorites. "And as requested by the manager of this fine bistro, I'd like to invite a guest performer from the audience to do this with us."

Hiro turned to the others. "I wonder who it's going to be."

Haru just shrugged and tried drinking the little drops of martini left in his glass. "Beats me." He said. "Maybe it's Mr. Mash."

"I'd like to welcome to the stage Mr. Takeharu Sato."

Suddenly, the spotlight overhead swung across the room from Motoo to Haru, causing him to drop his cocktail glass on the table. Thankfully the fall wasn't that high so it didn't break. Haru couldn't believe what he just heard. He then looked over to Mr. Mash, who was standing by the cashier, giving him a wicked smile.

"That son of a…" He muttered.

"Oh, that's wonderful, Haru!" Alyssa said. "You should play!"

Haru resisted slapping himself on the forehead. _Oh, you have got to be kidding me._ As if he wasn't embarrassed enough. He looked around and saw the other customers at the Belle, who were all already looking at him, and from the looks of it, they were already gossiping about him. It even sent one table full of girls into a giggling frenzy.

Haru laughed and insistently shook his head. "No, I don't really play that well anymore. And I'm a leftie, so I really can't play Mr. Naoi's bass."

Yoshifumi Naoi, the band's bassist, couldn't help but laugh.

"We have a leftie bass on-stage!" Mr. Mash yelled from where he was.

"That settles it, then." Motoo laughed. He then turned to Haru again. "How about it, Takeharu-kun? How about stretching those bass fingers again? You might just enjoy it."

That made Haru actually pause to think about it, but just when he was about to finally decline the offer, Hiro began chanting his little brother's name. "Haru, Haru, Haru!" Soon Alyssa joined the cheer, then Sawako, and before he knew it, Haru's name was already being chanted by the entire restaurant.

He let out a deep sigh and finally stood up, leaving everyone to applaud for him. "Fine." He breathed out.

"Go for it, sweetie." Sawako cheered again.

Motoo threw his hand up. "Let's give Mr. Sato a round of applause!"

Haru just nodded, laughing and rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he made his way to the stage, to be greeted by the members of Bump of Chicken. Motoo was the first to greet him and shake his hand. "Glad you could join us, buddy." He told him.

"Yes, well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this opportunity, Fujiwara-san." Haru confessed. "I'm a huge fan of your band."

Yoshifumi handed him the left-handed bass sitting in the corner. "Here, Haru. Wait, can I call you Haru?"

"Yeah, of course. Call me anything." He laughed. "Thanks." Haru nodded as he flung the strap over his shoulder and plucked the strings rather sloppily for a little sound check after he plugged it into the nearby amplifier. Yoshifumi then left the stage and exited to the back, probably for a quick smoke.

Motoo leaned over to Haru. "You know the song, right?"

Haru nodded. "Yeah, more or less. I used to play it a lot back when I was still in high school." He said. "And it's one of my girlfriend's favorite songs." That was when something suddenly hit Haru, a splendid idea. He then leaned closer to Motoo, saying, "I might just be overdoing it, but I actually have a good idea. Could my girlfriend also play with us? She's an amazing guitarist."

"I guess we could arrange that." Motoo cleared his throat. He then turned to the audience. "Where is she anyway?"

"She was sitting right beside me."

"All right, then." Motoo then grabbed the microphone again and grinned. "I've been informed that Mr. Sato's girlfriend is in the Belle, is that right? Can we have the spotlight on her, please?"

The man in the lighting room as happy to oblige, pointing the spotlight to an embarrassed and flustered Sawako, who was panicking in her seat, trying to hide behind Alyssa.

"Can you come up on stage, please, ma'am?" Motoo urged, staring at her.

Sawako then reluctantly stood up and walked up to the stage, looking over at Haru first, then over to Motoo, who helped her ascend the small set of stairs. "Let's all give this beautiful young lady a round of applause." He called out to the audience, and they all clapped their hands. In return, Sawako just bowed. She couldn't believe she was standing in the same stage as one of the most popular bands in Japan.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Sawako. Sawako Yamanaka."

Hiroaki removed his guitar and handed it over to Sawako with a grin. "Here you go, miss." He said.

Sawako took a step back and blinked as she looked up at the band guitarist, putting a hand over her chest. "Excuse me?"

Mr. Mash watched the scene on the stage with the other waitresses and turned to one of them, whispering, "You know, that girl actually looks familiar. I think I've seen her before." He said. His employees could only nod back.

"Aren't you going to play?" Motoo asked her.

"No, it's… just, well…"

"But your boyfriend here told us you're an amazing guitarist, Yamanaka-san." Motoo said, hoping to convince her with an extra push.

Sawako looked over to Haru, who just grinned up at her from where he sat. A moment later, Hiro began chanting from his seat again, this time, "Sawako, Sawako, Sawako!" And all the other spectators chanted with him again. Sawako flinched as she looked around. The man was quite influential.

"All right, then." Sawako finally stopped resisting and took the guitar as well as the pick. She remembered being forced to play like this back at her batch mate's wedding reception a few months back, but fortunately tonight she didn't have to unleash the inner devil. She's only going to play Melissa, after all. It wasn't even a Death Devil song, so she had nothing to worry about, and there wasn't a part of the song that held the possibility of making her go wild. She sat beside Motoo, on his right, and opposite to Haru, who was sitting on his left.

After seeing that the two of them were ready, Motoo took the microphone again. "All right, let's clap our hands again for this beautiful couple."

And so they did.

Motoo nodded at Hideo, and the drummer tapped his drumsticks again four times. Haru opened the song with its signature bass intro, performing it almost flawlessly, and Sawako started strumming as soon as Motoo sang the opening chorus. The sound they made was so smooth and fluid, almost perfect, prompting the audience to clap their hands for them again.

Hiro nodded to the beat as he listened. He leaned over to Alyssa. "Now that's what I call making beautiful music together." He joked.

"They're just perfect for each other." Alyssa replied.

The two of them kept listening, completely tuning out the drummer and the vocalist and focusing only on Haru and Sawako. Sawako looked like she was having a great time, effortlessly playing the riffs while smiling down at the guitar she was holding. The way she played made handling the guitar look so easy. Haru, on the other hand, looked a little too uptight while he played, which was a rare sight. He was biting his lip, looking only at the neck of the bass and nervously pressing the strings. He didn't sound like he was making any mistakes, though. He just looked really nervous.

Perhaps he really wasn't kidding when he said he didn't play anymore, or maybe it was just because he was performing with his favorite band that it made him wobbly.

After the chorus after the second verse was sung, Haru was given a chance to perform another short solo, ushering in the song's memorable guitar solo that Sawako was just about to play. That moment, all of the lights focused on her as she effortlessly plucked the strings, completely nailing the adlib. It was relatively easy, but everyone in the bistro thought it was just absolutely amazing and cheered again.

It made Motoo grin as he sang, and after the final chorus, they ended the song with a bang, clapping his hands as soon as they strummed the final chords, causing the crowd to give them a generous round of applause.

"Takeharu Sato, everybody!" Motoo cheered over the microphone. "And the lovely and very talented Sawako Yamanaka! Give them a hand, give them a hand!"

Sawako just bowed and laughed bashfully as she handed the guitar back to its owner. Haru also did the same and walked to where Sawako was with a proud grin, kissing her on the forehead for everyone to see.

Eventually the place settled down again when Haru and Sawako went back to their table and were greeted by Alyssa and Hiro, who really couldn't be any more pleased than they already were. Haru pulled the chair for Sawako before he sat down himself, trying to ignore the other two, who were both still staring at them.

Alyssa leaned over to Sawako. "You were simply amazing back there, Sawako!"

"Yeah, the way you played looked totally graceful." Hiro added. "You made Haru here look like such an idiot when he was playing his little bass."

"I told you, I don't play anymore." Haru pouted.

"That was a nice performance, you two." Mr. Mash praised as he returned to their table, laughing as he placed a hand over his belly, leaning with his hand against Haru's chair.

Haru frowned up at him. "You sneaky old man."

"Hey, you owe me big time, kid! I just requested for you to play with your favorite band. You should be thanking me." Mr. Mash joked.

"Yeah, except that totally came out of nowhere." Haru insisted. "You could have at least warned me. And I just told you I don't play anymore."

Mr. Mash just laughed. "You looked like you were having a lot of fun, though." He then turned to Sawako. "And you, little lady. You looked like you were having the most fun back there. That was some sick guitar handling. I've never seen anything like it!"

Sawako was embarrassed, and could only giggle. "It's not that great, sir." She said. "Like Haru, I really don't play that much anymore."

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Said Mr. Mash. "Where'd you learn to shred like that, though?"

"It's a high school thing. It used to be a hobby of mine."

"Well, you two should gather more members and start your own band."

That made Haru laugh rather loudly. His hand flew to his stomach as he did. "That's crazy talk, Mr. Mash. Don't you think we're a little too old for that?"

Mr. Mash just shrugged. "Well, that didn't stop Madonna."

The four of them nodded like-mindedly. Touché, old man. Touché.

"You know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, Takeharu." Hiro added. "The old man might be on to something."

"Hey! Who are you calling old?" Masashi growled.

Haru just chuckled incredulously, as if trying to laugh that crazy idea off might actually make them stop talking about it. "Maybe in a million years, pops." He said with a laugh. Sawako just looked up at him. He was doing that thing again where he was laughing too much. He must really dislike Mr. Mash's suggestion.

Finally feeling defeated, Mr. Mash let out a sigh. "Well, if you ever change your mind, I happen to know a guy. Don't let such talent die out."

Sawako nodded and smiled in response, while Haru grabbed a roll and quickly shoved it into his mouth to give himself an excuse for not talking. All that bass playing made him hungry, but mostly he just didn't want to talk.

She watched as Mr. Masashi went back to tending his restaurant. Perhaps it really wasn't a bad idea. It's just too bad she's over playing and singing.

Or was she?


	8. Chapter 7, Part II: Dressed to Deceive

**Chapter 7**

_Date Night, Part II – Dressed to Deceive_

The Sato Brothers, along with Alyssa and Sawako, all stood in front of the department store and stared up at the five-storey building. It really was quite the sight—Upper Heaven's department store was big enough to spawn its own separate building.

They had just finished having dinner over at the Belle of the Boulevard, and the members of Bump of Chicken even signed Haru's light blue dress shirt as well as the picture Sawako kept of her and Haru, with the words _'stay strong' _ written as a message from the band. But oddly enough, there were a couple of girls at the restaurant, especially the waitresses, who wanted Haru's autograph more than Motoo's. Sawako was still holding the photograph and was staring at it quite fondly. She still couldn't get over the fact that she met, and even performed, with such a band.

"I can't wait to show you my favorite brands, Sawako!" Alyssa squealed as she giddily grabbed onto the high school teacher's arm, causing her to almost drop the picture. "Come on, come on!"

Hiro laughed as he watched Alyssa drag her into the store, with the doorman opening the door for them, before she was even given the chance to respond. He turned around and saw that his little brother was still standing where he was, smiling at the scene he was watching. "Yo, little brother. You're not coming?" He asked.

Haru shook his head. "You guys go on ahead. I'll just go for a smoke."

"Whatever." Hiro shrugged and hurriedly followed the girls inside, who were already making their way to the elevator.

"Huh? Where's your brother? Isn't he coming?" Alyssa asked her husband, noticing they were one person short. Sawako also looked up at Hiro, looking a little worried.

The three of them could see Haru from where they were, smiling and waving from the other side of the revolving glass doors. He was already holding a lit cigarette between is middle and index fingers. "He said he'd catch up." Hiro sighed. "Apparently he needs to catch his breath with a cigarette."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "Just how is that going to help him?"

"Um, I think I should stay with him." Sawako tried to say.

"Nah, don't worry about him. He doesn't look like he has a problem. He's just probably itching to take a cigarette break." Said Hiro. "Don't worry about him."

Alyssa pulled her closer. "Yeah. And besides, I don't think he'd mind if I borrowed you for a while."

Sawako could only stare at her boyfriend until the elevator doors slid until they were closed, completely blocking her view as they slowly ascended to the third floor. Haru looked at the elevator until it closed, and sighed wearily as soon as the three of them were out of sight.

He slowly rubbed the back of his head after taking a long drag from his cigarette. He tried to remember everything Masashi said. "A band, huh? Crazy old man." Haru thought aloud.

Then again, he's never been wrong.

Haru shook it off his thoughts and took a final puff before he threw his cigarette into a steel bin nearby with half of it left. He then ignored the doorman, who grinned at him as a greeting. He thought it was incredibly cheesy, as if the man was telling him, "If you're not going to buy anything, you may as well just stay outside and out of our store, with all due respect, sir." Haru couldn't wait to slap him with their shopping bags later.

He walked rather calmly as he made his way to the elevator, and as soon as the doors opened for him, he slid inside and instinctively pressed the button that took him to the third floor: the women's department. Knowing Alyssa, this was the first destination.

By the time he had found them again, Hiro was sitting on one of the ottomans, while the girls were trying out some dresses a bit noisily, sharing one of the curtained fitting rooms at the more luxurious part of the store.

By some act of magic, Alyssa had somehow successfully convinced Sawako into picking a dress from a luxury fashion brand and making Haru pay for it. Well, he really didn't have a problem with that.

"Where are they?" Haru asked him, as if the answer wasn't obvious enough.

"They're already trying out dresses. You know how Alyssa gets. It's like a damn drug." Hiro groaned. "And poor Sawako's become her new Barbie doll."

"I feel sorry for her." Haru said with a laugh.

The boys turned to the fitting room when they heard the curtain roll to the side, revealing Alyssa first, who flaunted her short, bright-blue fitted dress. As usual, Hiro was just speechless, continuously asking himself how he ever got to make such a beautiful woman fall for him. Haru wondered about that too, ever since she met Alyssa, but never really found the answer. Perhaps it was what you call one of those miracles of love.

"Well, what do you guys think? I know I'm gorgeous, but you can't just stare at me all night." Alyssa pouted, noticing that the Sato brothers were just staring at her now, but Haru managed to look away and glue his eyes to the carpeted floor.

Hiro couldn't help but grin. "You look amazing, dear." He said. "Come to think of it, I don't think there ever was a time you sucked."

"I do hope that's a compliment." Alyssa said, adoring herself in front of the mirror.

"What about Sawako?" Haru managed to inquire.

"Oh, of course, of course! Come out of there, Sawako dear. Your boyfriend's just itching to see you in that Armani." Alyssa said, her hands traveling back into the fitting room to fetch the extremely embarrassed Sawako, who was hiding behind the curtain. She managed to pull her out, causing Haru to drop his jaw all the way to the ground in amazement as soon as he saw what she was wearing.

The dress was indeed by Armani: a fuchsia jersey evening dress with a v-neckline that complimented her perfect collarbones. Haru felt like he had died and gone to heaven, greeted by an angel in pink. I mean, that _is_ pink, right?

Hiro saw his brother and couldn't help but laugh.

Sawako kept her eyes on the floor. She was more worried about the price of the dress than how she looked in it, so she was cautious as she stood, not wanting to have to pay for it in case she damaged it in any way. Still, she looked up at Haru. "Well, what do you think?" She asked him. In the end, his opinion was really all that mattered. She didn't care if everyone else thought she looked like a woman wearing garbage, as long as Haru thought it was nice.

Haru cleared his throat. He was obviously blushing. He looked like he was fighting the urge to stare at Sawako and was losing miserably. Alyssa couldn't help but giggle at the sight. She has never really seen him look so vulnerable.

"Well, um," He started to say. "I think, uh… that you look beautiful, no matter what you wear, really."

There was a short, awkward pause before Hiro and Alyssa laughed like hell.

Hiro fell off the chair and cackled on the ground, creating quite the racket and causing the other customers and clerks to look at them. "Oh, my God, Haru!" He managed to gasp between his laughs. "That is just rich! Where did you learn to talk like that? Christ! Make him stop! Somebody get security!"

Haru growled and gave his brother a livid look while Sawako blushed just as furiously. _Did he really mean that? _She asked herself.

"Oh, Haru, that's just so sweet." Alyssa said, still laughing, although unlike Hiro, she was trying her best to suppress it. "But we're talking about the dress she's wearing, not what you think in general, though I'm sure she'd look great in anything."

Haru sighed. Perhaps that was way too cheesy. "I know, I know. But I was serious when I said that too." He said.

Hiro got back on his feet again and crawled back to his ottoman. "The dress, damn it. We're talking about the dress." He said, still laughing.

"Fine! The dress looks great on her!" Haru groaned in defeat. But he wasn't really lying.

Alyssa looked down at Sawako with her lips twisting in dissatisfaction. "Hmm, I don't know, sweetie." She told her, fingering the silk fabric of her dress. "It's nice, but it looks a bit too 'high school' for you. You need something more mature. Mrs. Ayame likes elegance above everything else, after all. I don't think being bright and quirky is going to work on her."

_Yeah, but so is being all rock and roll._

Haru and Hiro nodded at that. It was true.

"But she still looks great." Haru insisted.

"Oh, Haru, dear. You're in love. Of course everything is beautiful to you." Alyssa giggled. "Wait 'til you get married. That's when the ugly comes out."

Hiro nodded again. "Yeah, it's true."

Alyssa then gave Sawako another dress, and this time it was black. "Here, you should try this." She said, pushing the poor girl back into the fitting room until she was inside. "Call me if you need any help."

"S-Sure."

Haru leaned over Alyssa's shoulder. "Isn't Sawako a little too young for black?"

Alyssa crossed her arms and pouted at him. She loved wearing black herself; it made her feel well-dressed. "Are you saying I'm old?" She demanded.

"No! Of course not!" Haru shook his head defensively. "It just feels too mature."

"Then are you saying Sawako's immature?" She asked.

Haru growled like a frustrated child. "Damn it, stop misinterpreting me!"

"Goodness, you are way too uptight tonight, Takeharu. Take it easy, I was just kidding." Alyssa giggled. She then reached out for his shoulders. "Why don't you take your brother and look for decent suits? Perhaps that'll make you feel better. Besides, it probably won't take you that long. You're men, after all."

Come to think of it, she was right. Haru could just pull one suit out of some rack and buy it when it could take forever for these girls to pick out dresses that they actually want.

Haru looked over at Hiro, who just shrugged, saying, "You know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'm just worried he might also call me beautiful."

That sent the two of them into another giggling frenzy, and Haru just stood there, watching them with a frown. Sawako also heard Hiro while she was trying to put on the new dress, causing her to giggle as well.

Hiro eventually managed to pull himself up while still laughing and dropped his heavy arm around his little brother's shoulder. "Ah, come on, come on." He said. "Let's get you a nice suit for mommy." He then began to drag him along towards the elevator, where he pressed the button that took them to the fourth floor.

Alyssa smiled at them swiftly as she waved goodbye until the elevator door closed, and after that it was back to business. She went back to the fitting room on a mission to make Sawako transform from this quirky high school teacher to Haru's elegant angel.

* * *

><p>Haru buttoned the single breasted, navy-colored wool blazer that he wore over a light blue dress shirt with a white, spread collar as he tried to stand up straight while looking at himself at the mirror. The modern-fit suit he was trying to fit himself into was from Burberry, which Hiro himself picked out for him.<p>

Haru wasn't particularly picky when it came to clothes and liked keeping things simple, so it was easy for Hiro to make him wear anything, unless it made him look like Willy Wonka or some Anime cosplayer. He just had this rather inconvenient hereditary illness that made him look good in everything he tried to wear. It was the same with his grandfather, then his father and uncles and cousins and other distant relatives, and now him and Hiro. It was like a curse, really, which was inherited by the men of the Sato family, as he liked to call it, although he'd be lying if he said he didn't benefit from it at all.

Hiro noticed one thing that was missing from his attire as he watched how he was trying to fix the lapel after buttoning the blazer down. "Where's your tie?"

"I decided to get one after Sawako's done picking a dress. I want to make sure that they match." Haru explained. He didn't take his eyes off of the mirror at all.

Hiro had just finished picking out his own suits from his favorite brand, Calvin Klein, so there was nothing much to do now but wait for Haru to find a suit that he liked enough to buy.

"You really like Sawako, don't you?"

That question made Haru pause as he tried to fix his cuffs. He glanced at his brother from the corner of his eye. "Of course I do, she's an amazing woman. Can't you tell?"

Hiro scoffed. "Oh, I think everyone can tell."

"Why are you asking me that anyway? Don't tell me we're about to have a heart to heart. It doesn't suit you."

"Of course not, you idiot. I was just curious."

"And why would you be curious?"

Hiro rested his chin on his palm and smirked. Perhaps it was time to be blunt. "Because I've seen you fall in love before and it didn't end that well."

That was when Haru completely stopped and dropped both of his hands to his sides, turning to his brother with an unreadable face. It was the same face that their father, Takumi, was always making. His expression was always like that, so indecipherable, so unyielding, and because of it, a lot of people had a hard time trying to figure out how he really felt. Right now his son Haru was wearing that face, and Hiro knew all too well that whenever he'd put that poker face on, something serious was about to go down. Last time he saw that face, Haru 'calmly' punched someone right in the face, which was back in high school. "That was high school, Hiro. People tend to be stupid when they're young and in high school." Haru finally said.

"Yeah, but you turned out to be more stupid than the usual case."

"Let's not talk about that, man." He shook his head. "Sawako doesn't even know about that. Well, at least not yet."

"What? Why haven't you told her?"

"Part of the past I'd rather forget. Besides, I figured she doesn't have to know."

Hiro couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief. The way Haru was answering, too. It was too plain and flat and in monotone. It didn't sound good at all. "Well, you should. Or else there's going to be trouble."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Why would there be trouble?"

"Because when a lie is exposed after being kept for too long, it often goes out with a bang. You should know that. You experienced practically everything back when you were studying in Columbia." Hiro explained. "And it's really no different now despite the fact that you're trying, and failing, to live a middle-class life in Japan."

"Except that's not really a lie and I'm not like those idiots. I know how to keep a secret, especially when it's mine." He looked up at Hiro. "I do hope you let me deal with this myself."

Hiro sighed. "Of course. This is your relationship, so you take care of it. Just be careful. You're still my brother, you know."

"I will. I just don't want you going off on your own and decide to do the right thing by telling her the truth yourself. That sounds like something Alyssa or mom would do."

"Well, you better be thankful that I'm not a girl." Hiro joked, hoping to lighten the mood now that it's suddenly gone so serious.

"Thanks, Hiro."

"Just make sure you don't end up hurting the poor girl, okay?" Hiro gave his brother a light tap on the shoulder. "She seems like a nice girl, too. I actually like her."

"Me too, and that's why I want to disregard my stupid mistakes from years ago as much as possible. She deserves a man, not a boy."

"But looking at things that way just makes you seem more of a boy."

"What are you talking about? Takeharu Sato is a man. A very handsome man, at that." Haru laughed. "Don't you ever forget that."

Haru then cleared his throat as he finally finished fixing his suit from head to toe, and smiled at the image in the mirror, obviously satisfied with the way he looked. He didn't look like a boy at all; in fact, he looked more like the son of Takumi Sato now. Now all that's left to do is to get rid of that thin, rough stubble so he could finally complete the debonair ensemble. It was starting to get on Hiro's nerves.

"I like this. I'm buying it." Said Haru.

Hiro couldn't help but scoff again. "What? But that's the first suit you've tried on. Aren't you going to try anything else?"

Haru shook his head and smiled. "Nah, I think I'm good."

"Fine, suit yourself." Hiro mumbled, no pun intended. He then raised a hand and called the attention of a nearby male clerk and watched him as he made his way towards them.

"What can I do for you, sirs?"

"We're taking this." Hiro said, pointing at the suit his brother was wearing with his free hand, since his other arm was used as a hanger for the three suits he already picked out. "Can you get us a fresh one from the stocks?"

"O-Of course, sir." Said the clerk, looking into the tag and memorizing what was written on it before he strode away again and out of sight.

Haru turned to Hiro again. "I wonder how the girls are doing."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back in the ladies' department, Alyssa has already managed to talk Sawako into trying her fifth dress, which was another one from Armani. It was exactly as the boys had predicted—she was in the middle of making a life-sized Barbie doll out of Sawako and was enjoying every second of it.<p>

Alyssa was standing half-in, half-out of the fitting room, with the curtain partly closed. She was watching Sawako as she slid into her dress, looking pretty tired already. "So, how long have you and Takeharu been dating?" She asked her, hoping that a little talk would distract her from her little exhaustion.

Sawako made sure the dress was completely on before she answered, fixing her glasses. "More than four months already." She said. "Though I'm sure Haru doesn't know that. He insists on not counting because he said it didn't matter as long as we were happy together."

Alyssa nodded rather sarcastically, which Sawako didn't see. She knew Haru only said that because he was too lazy to count. "Sounds like he's really happy with you. That's a good thing."

"Yeah, and he's good at reminding me that. I just wish he'd share his problems with me, too." Sawako crossed her arms. "I don't know… sometimes he just acts like a boy. He's too focused on being happy that it makes him pay less attention to the things he needs to fix."

"That sounds exactly like Haru. Has he ever told you about his father, though?"

Sawako wondered if that had anything to do with what she just said. "A little. All I know about Mr. Takumi is that he was the one who 'convinced' Haru into taking C.E. in Columbia. Haru doesn't like talking about family that much."

Alyssa leaned back again. "Yes, and I understand. His father is quite the overachiever. It comes with being a successful businessman. His standards were unreachable, so it often drove poor Haru to be rebellious, to the point that Takumi would christen him the black sheep of the family. He was just never good enough. I think that's what made him who he is now." She said. "Though he never once said that he blamed him. Maybe it's because he didn't want to seem like one of the people who blamed their parents for every bad decision they made in life, like, some 'Boo hoo, my daddy doesn't love me, so I decided to become a stripper' kind of thing. Haru basically just thought of his father as a challenge."

"The poor thing…" Sawako leaned back until her back was dropped gently against the wall. Perhaps that was the reason he was so secretive?

"That's the reason Haru decided to leave Manhattan after he graduated. He wanted to live away from his father, but I never really expected him to come back home to Japan, to all places." Alyssa shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Even after everything he's been through, he's still as predictable as ever."

"And where is his father now?"

"Back in Manhattan." Alyssa said almost as immediately. "We asked him to come with us, but he told us he's too busy with work. Said something about business in Taiwan."

Sawako looked up at her. "And I'm guessing that's not the real reason?"

"Father's not in good terms with his son, so obviously he's not coming because he just doesn't want to see him. Classic daddy issues."

"Wow. Mr. Takumi sounds a lot like Haru."

He really did. Haru also had that annoying habit of going around and past a problem instead of facing it head-on. He looked at his problems as if they were the witches from that game Left 4 Dead—if you run into them and startle them, that's when they incapacitate you, and you'll be left to rely on other people to help you up again, so the best plan of action when encountering them was sneaking past them. And if there's one thing that Haru disliked more than his dad, it was relying on and being indebted to other people.

That made Alyssa laugh. "Oh, you have no idea." She said. "I've had my own troubles with Takumi myself. You know, once, when Hiro took me to meet his parents for the first time, Takumi told me in front of everyone at the dinner table that I didn't look like the most suitable choice for his son."

Sawako gasped. "Really? Just like that?"

"Yes." Alyssa nodded. "Of course I was hurt because I love Hiro very much, but he seemed more upset than me. In fact, Hiro was so upset that he decided to live with me until Haru fetched him home."

Alyssa remembered that incident quite fondly. It was actually the first time Haru has ever done something mature and she essentially noticed. See, her first impression of Haru was quite harsh; she thought he was just some cocky lacrosse-playing boy with a pretty face who preferred zip-up hoodies over suits, wears tacky sneakers, and drinks before doing something serious, so Alyssa thought he really was the black sheep of the Sato family. Plus, he and Hiro were always getting into petty fights so she thought he was pretty immature too. But after seeing what he did for his big brother, Alyssa's respect for the boy was raised significantly, and it was raised further after finding out his story and seeing him work his butt off until he finally got what he worked for—that diploma. That was when she finally confirmed that Haru deserved all the respect in the world and that he was truly a man that she and everyone else could count on.

Though she still couldn't help but wonder if he was still that man. A lot can change, and it looked like Sawako was gradually changing him. At least it seemed like it was for the better.

She nodded longingly, playing that moment in her head again. "You know, if Haru was a little older, I would have actually considered marrying him instead of Hiro." Alyssa joked, or at least Sawako hoped she was.

She then turned to the younger one again. "What is it about him that draws you, though? Aside from his looks, of course."

Sawako paused, thinking about it, since there really were a lot of reasons she found his boyfriend so magnetic, and it sure as hell wasn't the way he drank his scotch or the fact that he was probably as wealthy as Tsumugi. What was that one thing that drew everything together, though?

That was when the answer finally hit her like Thor's hammer to the face. "Well, you see, I used to be willing to be anything just to be with a guy I liked when I was younger. One time, a guy told me he wanted wilder girls so I tried that, but I overdid it." She said with a little laugh. "Then I went to study to become a teacher because of another guy. That didn't work out well, but I actually liked teaching, so I went at it."

She noticed Alyssa staring at her intriguingly, with her eyes shining. She looked like she was genuinely interested in her relationship with Haru. "But with Haru," She continued, "I don't have to be anything. I don't need to be a superwoman or a genius or anything like that. I just need to be myself, and he always reminds me to stay that way because that's when he loves me the most." She let out a laugh. "I'm sorry if it sounds so cliché, but that's really how he makes me feel. It's just so amazing to be able to find a guy like that in this day and age."

"No, it's fine. In fact, I think it's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard." Alyssa confessed. "I actually envy the kind of chemistry you have."

"Do you really think we're that compatible?" Sawako asked.

"What's compatible?"

The two girls immediately turned and found the Sato brothers walking towards their fitting room, with the suits they bought conveniently being carried around by the clerk they had found earlier. Hiro greeted the girls with a nod, smirking knowingly, while Haru just stood where he was, a couple of steps behind him, staring at everyone else. He looked so baked. It must have been the smell of new suits.

Haru looked down and saw the number of shopping bags by the fitting room. So apparently Alyssa had already bought her own dresses. They really couldn't be Sawako's, after all.

Alyssa immediately stepped out and closed the curtain behind her. "Oh, nothing, dear." She greeted Hiro with a quick peck on the lips. "I was just talking to Sawako about how her dress should match Haru's suit."

"Ah, Haru was actually talking about that, too." Hiro said, pointing at his brother with his thumb over his shoulder. "He hasn't bought a tie yet. He said he wanted to get one after Sawako was finished with her dress so that he could find one that matched it."

Sawako heard that and blushed behind the curtain.

"You are just too sweet, Haru." Alyssa said.

Haru just smiled shyly before he took a look around. "Where's Sawako, anyway?" He asked. He looked down at Alyssa. "Don't tell me you two are still playing dress-up."

"Hey, it's not my fault. Everything looks good on Sawako, but I just can't seem to find a dress that's 'elegant' enough, yet young at the same time." Alyssa explained. "Well, hopefully this next dress she's trying to fit into will be the last."

"Just a sec, I'm almost finished!" Sawako called from inside. Haru walked closer until he was directly in front of the fitting room. "It's okay, take your time." He told her.

Haru sat down on the nearby ottoman right next to Alyssa and let out a rather heavy sigh. Alyssa noticed this and immediately leaned over towards him, smirking. "You okay?" She asked. "Don't tell me you actually called my husband beautiful and now you're ticked about it."

"What?" Haru almost squealed defensively. "Of course not. It's probably just the Martini. I'm starting to feel a little dizzy."

"Well, you did down three glasses, for heaven's sake."

"I told you to take it easy on the drinks." Sawako called in an in-your-face kind of way from inside the fitting room.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Haru called back.

After a while, the curtains slid to the side again and Sawako emerged, alone and barefoot, as she sloppily fixed her glasses, almost falling over. She was so tired that she thought that it was actually the dress trying to kill her.

Haru immediately stood up and stared at her from head to toe, and Alyssa and Hiro could only look at her in amazement. It looks like they found the jackpot.

The Armani that Sawako was wearing was a short, black dress with dark blue highlights, along with a boat-slit neckline and rhinestone detailing. Haru didn't even know what those things were. All he knew was his girlfriend was probably the most beautiful woman in Japan right now, if not the world, even though her hair was a bit of a mess and her face had turned pink from fatigue. Haru just wanted to pick her up bridal-style and take her back home, drop him on his bed, and kiss her face off. She was a perfectly imperfect angel in black. He surely wasn't going to take his eyes off of her any time soon.

Sawako noticed how they all looked at her. Even the clerk looked pretty amazed. "What is it?" She mumbled.

"It's nothing. You just look so amazing." Haru managed to say. "This is perfect."

"I couldn't agree more." Alyssa said, walking towards her and pulling the slightly ruffled dress down so it would straighten itself. "I absolutely love it. You have to buy this."

Before Sawako could protest or even see for herself how much the dress was, Haru had already asked the clerk to get a new one for them, and being the diligent clerk that he was, he immediately went back to find what they asked for.

Seriously, he doesn't get paid enough for this.

Hiro noticed that his brother still hasn't taken his eyes off of Sawako. "Whoa, easy, tiger." He laughed. "You know she can't leave the store wearing that, right?"

Haru shook his head to refocus himself. "O-Of course."

* * *

><p>"Boy, the breeze sure is nice in here. Nice view, too." Alyssa told the other three as they all sat in a straight line facing the waters. All of them were sitting, except for Haru, who was standing on the boulders with his hands in the pockets of his coat. After leaving the department store, the Sato brothers decided to consume a couple of cigarettes before they finally call it a day and take the girls home.<p>

It was starting to get a little cold, and Haru had to keep rubbing his reddened nose. He then looked down at Sawako, who was still dumbfounded after discovering the price of her new Armani dress. He even bought her a pair of new stilettos that were four times the price of her dress. The fact that she now owed Haru so much drove her almost to insanity. She'd never be able to find him a Christmas present that was just as amazing as everything he has bought for her tonight, and on such short notice.

He didn't seem to notice how she was practically falling apart, since he was making such a huge deal out of rubbing his nose. It was getting so red that it made him look like Rudolf.

Sawako squealed, almost fainting in surprise after Hiro tapped her on the shoulder while she was trying to think. "Hey, you don't look too good. Are you okay?" He asked her.

Alyssa looked up at Haru and glared at him for being such a bad boyfriend and not noticing Sawako before her husband did. Haru just raised an eyebrow. Clearly, he didn't get the message.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sawako started rubbing her arms. "It's just so cold."

"You can say that again." Haru nodded. That was when he finally took a cigarette from his pocket and ignited the other end. He looked up as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Come to think of it, it is getting quite cold. And I left my coat back at that car." Alyssa added.

And that was the last straw. Hiro put out his cigarette and threw it into the water. He then courteously removed his jacket so he could let his wife wear it, leaving his arm around her shoulders after doing so. Haru watched his brother, and he turned to him, grinning smugly, as if to brag about his chivalrous deed. It made Haru frown. For once he actually thought Hiro was being just genuinely courteous. He was so wrong.

Haru scoffed and did the same for Sawako, despite the fact that she already had her parka on. Then again, he always saw parkas as useless articles of clothing that weren't as functional as coats, but of course, he's never going to tell Sawako or Alyssa that. He didn't want to die just yet.

"Um, thank you." Sawako said.

Haru just smiled. "Yeah, sure."

The ride back to the Sato residence was short and silent. Hiro, after everything that happened that night, fell asleep with his head thrown back all throughout the ride while his wife was too busy keeping herself warm. Sawako just stared outside the window while Haru drove quietly, as usual.

He turned up the FM radio, and fittingly enough, Kazami's _You_ was playing. Haru twisted the volume knob slowly up to 23% so that it wouldn't be too loud. It was actually a good thing—at least, on the ride home, he finally got a chance to relax, even though it was cold as hell and he was starting to grow pale. The heat from the car wasn't really helping at all. _Damn Innova._

When he turned to glance at Sawako, he saw noticed that she was already asleep, her arms clutching his coat tightly, which she already used as a blanket. He realized that the other two were already asleep as well, and he chuckled quietly.

"I'll see you guys later." Haru told Alyssa and Hiro as soon as they arrived at the Sato residence and stepped out of the car. He pressed a button beside him so that his window would roll down.

"Be careful now." Alyssa said with a yawn. She then turned to Sawako. "Good night, sweetie. We had a great time with you tonight. See you soon."

"I had a great time too, Alyssa-san, Hiro-san. Thank you again for everything." Sawako said.

Hiro just smirked and waved. "No problem." He then looked down at Haru and gave him a suggestive look. After seeing Haru's confused face, he hit his shoulder quite heavily, laughing. "You kids be good, now."

"Yeah, yeah." Haru groaned, rubbing his shoulder.

Haru rolled the windows back up, afraid of another hit from his big brother, and drove off. Sawako sat back down and fixed her seatbelt back on. "They're such nice people." She said, referring to Alyssa and Hiro.

"Well, I'm glad you like them." Haru said with a nervous smile. "They looked like they liked you a lot."

"Yeah, so I've noticed." She couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yes, more than I've had in a while."

"That's good." Haru smiled.

Sawako looked at him and smiled back as he kept his eyes glued on the road. She noticed that he already looked pretty tired, but tried his best to hide it. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't that good of an actor.

"Thank you again." She told him. "This is probably the best Christmas present anyone's ever given me. Now I'll have to think of something really big to get you."

Haru scoffed. "No, you don't have to do that, really. It's fine."

"But I can't just give you nothing after all you've spent on me tonight." She insisted.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just spend Christmas together, okay? That's more than enough for me."

Sawako just pouted and stared at him for a moment before she finally gave up and looked forward, staring at the road. Haru stole a quick glance, thinking that might have upset her, but in fact she was only thinking about whether or not she should settle with just spending the holidays with him as a Christmas gift. She'd have to pay him back one way or another, but doing that just won't cut it. If she doesn't think of a great present to get him before the 25th, she's going to regret it and curse herself until she grows old and dies for being such a bad girlfriend. The entire thing would be nailed on her conscience. She wouldn't be able to endure the torture for more than two days.

If Haru heard what she was thinking, he'd probably think she was insane. He kept taking quick glances as he drove, and every time he looked, Sawako was wearing a different expression on her face. Instead of trying to figure her out or wait for an answer to his invitation, he just kept on driving.

Perhaps that Armani dress was still driving her nuts.

Eventually they arrived at Sawako's apartment building, and after Haru turned the engine off, he stepped out and went around to where Sawako was sitting and opened the door for her. It didn't look like she wanted him to do something like that, and he didn't know why he did that either, but somehow he just felt like doing it.

"T-Thanks." Sawako managed to say, still a little surprised.

Haru grabbed her paper bag as well as her purse for her and lent her a hand as she stepped out of his car. Sawako almost stumbled forward, but he managed to catch her, causing them both to laugh.

Haru helped her until she was standing steadily again. "You should be more careful." He told her. He looked down at her feet. "I always knew heels were wearable death traps." He joked.

She laughed. "It all depends on the wearer, Mr. Sato."

"Whatever." He chuckled.

But they both could only laugh so much, and a few seconds later, they noticed the laughter slowly fading, until they were just staring at each other, keeping their smiles on, since they really couldn't do otherwise.

For the first time all night, Haru was given the chance to look down at Sawako, and he had to admit, it was exhilarating, as if it were his reward after a long, tiring night at Upper Heaven. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck, pressing their foreheads together. It made Sawako smile, even though Haru reeked of cigarettes and martini. Still, she really can't imagine him smelling like anything else. It sort of became his natural scent, something only he could pull off and still be attractive. If anyone else tried to smell like him, they'd probably just smell like pig crap.

"What are you smiling about?" He mumbled, pulling his face only a few inches away.

Just when Sawako was about to say something, something cold slowly found its way onto her nose, and it stayed there. She looked down, and Haru did the same. It was white, and moist, and cold, and…

Haru raised his eyebrows. "It's snowing."

They looked around and noticed that it was indeed snowing. The white stuff started falling from the sky and slowly to the ground, and suddenly it got a hell of a lot colder.

He then took her hand. "I really should be getting you home, at least before we both freeze to death." He said with a laugh, and Sawako just nodded and followed him back to her apartment as if it was his too.

* * *

><p>Sawako sat down in front of the little table in her apartment, right in front of Haru, holding two mugs: one hot chocolate for her and some coffee for him. She let him use her favorite mug, which was monogrammed with the initials 'DD', which obviously stood for Death Devil. Every member of the band had one, and it was one of Norimi's crazy ideas.<p>

Haru, being the observant engineer that he was, studied the mug as soon as it was handed to him. "Thanks," he said. After realizing what the two D's stood for, he smirked and looked at her. "Death Devil, right?"

"Yep." She nodded. She could sit more comfortably now, since she was wearing more snug clothes, which included a brown, oversized hoodie with the faces of the members of The Smiths printed on it, as well as a pair of red jogging pants. Normally she'd just wear a shirt and a pair of shorts, but since it was already so cold, she really had no choice. The heater could only provide enough heat so that she wouldn't be too cold that she gets frostbite, which meant she still had to wear warm clothes even inside her place. It completely sucked.

These were the times she wished she had already moved in with Haru, but she knew that was a big step, and she wasn't even ready for it herself, so she just waited for him to extend that invitation, even though he made it seem like it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Haru laughed. "Some crazy merch you girls had." He said. "I wish I'd known you girls back then, I would have been a big fan."

"You'd probably run after seeing how wild I was." Sawako laughed.

"I told you, dear, I'd love you even if you became as wild as a mountain lion."

Sawako looked at Haru, who was grinning like a child, but he really sounded like he meant what he said. That was when she remembered what she told Alyssa when they were talking in the fitting room; Sawako could be anything she wanted for all Haru cared, all that mattered was that she was who she was. She just blushed and took a quick gulp from her hot chocolate, which really wasn't that hot anymore, thanks to the snow.

She couldn't help but wonder, though, if Haru was going to feel that way forever.

Haru looked out the window and saw the snowflakes still falling. "Man, when it snows, it pours."

"Shouldn't you get going before the snow completely eats your car?"

"Come on, I was just getting really comfy." Haru purred, which was totally uncharacteristic of him. "Besides, don't you want me to stay?"

The martini must have really gone to his head.

She tried her best to contain herself and not fawn over how incredibly cute he was being. "No, it's not that. You're going to have a hard time driving once the snow thickens, you know."

"That's no problem." He insisted.

"Fine. Suit yourself."

After taking a quick gulp of coffee from the mug, Haru leaned closer to Sawako until their faces were only about an inch away. Either Sawako's table was really small or Haru was just that tall. He was being really weird, too, and she really couldn't figure out why. It couldn't be the martini now, since it would probably take a lot more than that to drive him this crazy.

But it didn't matter.

Sawako couldn't take it anymore. Her hands flew from her mug to his face, caressing it softly and lingering on the stubble on his jaw. Within seconds, she leaned in and closed her eyes, meeting his waiting lips in a chaste kiss. He tasted like cigarettes and coffee, but she didn't mind. It just made him all the more kissable. She crawled on top of her table, sloppily spilling their drinks all over the place, with her lips still locked on his. He let her push him down on the floor until she was looming over him like the little devil she was. Haru had to love it when they do this; it always brings out a side of Sawako that people usually wouldn't think she had.

As strange as he was acting, though, Haru was still the same when it came to kissing her—so slow and so gentle, as if he was trying to tease her. The slothfulness was driving her insane.

She bit his lower lip to let him know how impatient she was, and he let out a small laugh, finally picking up his pace.

As always, once they started, they really had no reason to stop.

* * *

><p>It was already 2:43 in the morning when Haru suddenly woke up, groaning in discomfort as he tried to pull himself up so he could sit. He kept blinking until his vision was back to normal, and dropped his hand on his top of his head so he could run his fingers through his hair.<p>

He looked down and winced as soon as he realized he was only wearing boxers and the only thing that kept his body warm were the sheets that he was sleeping under. Sawako was lying right next to him, who, unlike him, was sleeping soundly with a smile on her face. He also noticed that she was wearing absolutely nothing under the sheets and tucked her in, but only so gently so he wouldn't have to disturb her as he slowly tried to stand back up.

Haru slipped his slacks on, fixing his belt, and threw his dress shirt on, buttoning only the first four buttons, before he walked towards the door that led to the hallways, grabbing his coat and taking it with him.

What he needed right now was a quick smoke.

He checked his cell phone for any messages as he leaned by the balcony, and oddly, there were seven of them that were unread.

"What the," He said. He immediately pressed the button that took him to his inbox to see if it was some sort of emergency, but it turned out that it was only his mother texting him for the past few hours, asking him things like where he was and all of that motherly crap.

He sighed in relief as he read the messages.

This was one of those things that he particularly didn't like about his mother. Back when they were still living in New York, he still had to ask her permission about everything, from dates with girls, to study groups, to gigs at bars and many other things, which really wasn't that bad because she always allowed him to go wherever he wanted. And sometimes when he forgets to tell her where he's off to, about two hours later he'd find his inbox full of messages asking him where he was, who he's with, and why he was there, and she wouldn't stop until he had replied.

Despite being clingy with her children, Ayame let her kids do what they want, whenever they wanted. It has always been like that with her, and she never regretted enforcing that style of parenting, even though it was in complete disagreement with Takumi's style, which was more of a dictatorship than actual parenting. As far as Ayame was concerned, though, her children can go where they want, drink what they want, smoke what they want, as long as they kept their grades up, went to Ivy League universities, got decent jobs, and knew how to present themselves to society, but mostly just high society. So basically, you're only allowed to do stupid, petty teenage crap as long as you don't screw up the rest of your life.

Haru was just thankful that Ayame wasn't as inquisitive as she was before, but she still had to understand that he was a grown man now. He really didn't need any of this.

_**Sato, Ayame - 7:43PM: **__How are you kids doing? Having fun at the mall? Your sister keeps bothering me about how you should have brought her along._

_**Arakawa, Takashi - 8:01PM: **__Just reminding you about our assignment next week, Sato. Clock's ticking. If we fail the second time, I don't think we'll be sticking around the Center for long._

_**Sato, Ayame - 9:12PM: **__Don't stay out too late._

_**Takada, Megumi - 9:22PM: **__Hey, Haru. I haven't heard from you in a while. How are you doing? _

_**Sato, Ayame - 11:58PM:**__ Be careful on your ride home, sweetie. It's a shame you didn't bring Sawako home. It would have been nice to meet her._

_**Sato, Ayame - 12:43AM: **__You sure are taking your sweet time. Why aren't you texting me back? Are you still at Sawako's?_

_**Sato, Ayame - 12:47AM: **__If you planned on staying the night there, you should have told me first. Anyway, good night, Takeharu. I'll see you tomorrow._

Haru stared at his phone for quite a while, unsure of which one he should reply to first. That was when the fact that Megumi texted him finally registered into his mind. He scrolled back up and opened her message again, look back over it a couple of times before he stopped. The whole thing made him completely forget that the reason he stepped out of the apartment was to sneak a smoke. He didn't even notice how serious Takashi's message was.

Now, it was true. Since he and Sawako have started dating officially, Haru really hasn't spent a lot of time talking to Megumi. In fact, he hasn't talked to her at all since that day. Of course, if Megumi had suddenly stopped talking to him, he'd find it weird, too, considering how close they were.

In fact, they were really close. But more about that later.

He hit the button that prompted him to reply to her message and quickly typed in his message on the keypad.

_Sorry, just been a little busy for the past few months with work and all. How about we talk over lunch some time again, like we used to?_

Well, that was stupid. He shook his head and deleted the entire message in annoyance. He then clicked so he could give her a call—he didn't exactly know why he did that, either—and waited for a second ring before he finally decided that it was also a bad idea. He really couldn't expect Megumi to be awake at 3 in the morning. What was she, a sparkly vampire?

Haru sighed in defeat and cursed himself for being so worked up on a single, casual message.

That's when his phone suddenly vibrated in his hand, almost giving him a heart attack.

He looked down. _It's Megumi._

"Hello?" He asked as casually as he could, walking a couple of steps further away from Sawako's apartment.

It took a while before Megumi talked. "Hey, Haru. Why'd you call?"

He paused, thinking about it. He actually didn't know the answer to that question himself. "Well, I just read your text and I kind of wanted to talk to you… until I remembered what time it was." He explained. "What are you doing up so late, anyway?"

"It's Saturday, you know." She said, as if she was talking to an idiot. "I was playing when you decided to call." She laughed. "Consider yourself special. I paused my Call of Duty for you, dummy."

"Really?" Haru couldn't help but chuckle. "Then I must be pretty damn special."

It was one of the things that Haru loved about Megumi, really. On the outside, she may look like the highbrow, straightforward college professor from the J. Women's University, but in reality, she was one of the boys, and was probably a better gamer than Haru and Yuji combined. When she wasn't out being her intellectual and beautiful self, she liked playing MMORPG's and maybe even fighting games on her PS3. She and Haru got along so well that they spent most of their free time together, and now that he was given the time to reminisce about it, he really couldn't help but suddenly miss her.

They both laughed for a while, until it got ridiculous and awkward. "I missed you." She finally said softly, in a way someone wouldn't normally tell her cousin. It felt more than that.

It made Haru smile, and he leaned back against the wall. "I missed you too."

He really had.

"Let's see," Megumi said rather cheerfully. "Should you be thinking of the ways you're going to make it up to me or should I decide for that myself? I've got a couple of things in mind."

Haru scoffed. "Like what?"

Megumi actually took a piece of paper from her desk nearby and prepared to write with her pen. "I was thinking, you could buy me lunch for a whole month." She explained. "Or maybe you could buy me a minimum of four new games for my PS3. So, what do you think?"

"I think that's a load of crap, Takada." He replied plainly.

"I know, right? I thought it was a little too light for you, too. You did go MIA for a while, you know." She said with a little laugh. "I can't think of anything worthy enough to be considered a punishment."

She may have sounded serious, but Haru knew she was just joking. This was her way of joking, which was probably a little weird, but still funny nevertheless.

"Maybe I should do the thinking. It's my fault for being invisible for a while." He suggested. "Don't worry, I'll think of something great."

"Oh, that's right. If I remember correctly, you just hate it when you owe someone something."

"You know me so well."

Megumi smirked. "Well, I really should be getting back. You know I'm a busy woman, Mr. Sato." She said.

"Yeah, I should get back to sleep, too." He laughed.

"Call me again, okay? I have so much to tell you."

"Sure, and me too."

"I'll bet." She told him. "Well, I'll talk to you later, Haru. Don't get into too much trouble, okay? I love you."

That didn't sound like something someone would tell a relative, either. Still, Haru looked as if everything was normal and he was accustomed to everything. "Yeah, me too." He then clicked to end the call, smiling at his phone.

For some reason he couldn't take that smile off of his face.

"Haru?"

That soft mention of his name totally came out of nowhere and almost made his heart jump out of his chest in surprise. He almost dropped his phone, too. He quickly turned, seeing Sawako lethargically walking out of her apartment, still rubbing her eyes. She had managed to slip into her pajamas and kept her hoodie of the Smiths hanging loosely on her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" Haru asked, quickly shoving his phone back in his pocket.

Sawako kept walking until she was right in front of him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "No, it's okay. It's just a little too cold." She said.

"Sorry."

"Were you talking to someone?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Uh, yeah." He stammered, looking at everything but her eyes. "It was my mom. I haven't really told her I'd spend the night here, so she was worried."

Unfortunately for him, Sawako knew him well enough to notice that it was the same face he always makes whenever he was lying, but she just played dumb and played along. "Aww, well, it wasn't your fault. I was the one who 'distracted' you."

Haru couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, it was the perfect distraction, by the way." He leaned down and kissed her again, pulling away as something suddenly came to mind. "Hey, this is going to sound a little crazy," He started, still a little hesitant. "But do you think it'd be a good idea if I moved in with you?"

Again, he knew what he was saying, but he didn't know exactly why he was saying it. He was worried he may have already gone insane.

Of course, Sawako was also surprised. "That came out of nowhere." She said rather flatly. Now she knew something was definitely up.

Haru just shook his head and rubbed a hand on the back of his head. "I know, sorry. I know that's a huge decision and I shouldn't ask it like it's no big deal." He said. "My house just feels so crowded lately, you know?" Yep, that was pretty much the perfect justification.

Sawako softened her gaze as she leaned her cheek against his sturdy chest, which surprised him a little. She knew he was definitely hiding something, but she also realized that she's been pretty forceful with extracting the truth out of him lately. That's probably the reason he's still so uptight and still so secretive. Perhaps if she gave him time to think about it and sort it out for once, then maybe then he'd learn to be more open to her.

Well, at least that's what she thought.

"You know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea." She said softly.

"Really?"

She nodded. "Are you sure, though? My apartment isn't exactly that lavish, Mr. Sato, as you may have noticed."

"Stop calling me that." He chuckled, pulling her even closer than she already was. "And yeah, it's actually more than fine. You know I can be anywhere as long as I'm with you, Sawako."

Man, he really knew how to sweep women off their feet with just words.

Sawako only purred in response. "Besides," Haru continued. "I'll only be staying until after my parents go back to Manhattan. I want you to move in with me after that."

"But what about my apartment?"

Haru just looked down at her with an indicative smirk, and Sawako immediately picked up what he meant: he wanted her to sell her apartment and move in with him _and _sell her apartment.

It took her quite a while to think about it. It was a pretty big decision, after all, and it's definitely not something you'd ask your girlfriend to do at 3 in the morning, for Christ's sake. Now she was starting to get even more suspicious than before, but she still had faith that her boyfriend would explain everything in full detail eventually. Besides, he has already done so much for her, and it was the least she could do until she finds a decent way to pay him back other than kissing him. Haru understood this completely, so he just stood there and held her, waiting patiently for the response he was expecting.

"All right, then." She finally said. It surprised him, too.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." Sawako said cheerfully. "I don't know why I even thought about it. Moving in with you would be wonderful."

A grin suddenly appeared on Haru's face, and he kissed her forehead, obviously pleasantly surprised. He looked like he had proposed to her and she just said yes. "That's great!" He said.

Sawako just celebrated with him. She had to admit, she was pretty happy about it too. "Yeah, it is."

Haru leaned in again and kissed her, with her kissing back, after a second of hesitation. After they pulled away at the same time, he looked down at her and smiled again. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." She said, nodding. "And I love you too."


	9. Interlude: The Sugar Coat

**Interlude**

_The Sugar Coat_

I honestly don't know what to do right now.

It's been only three days since Sawako agreed to let me move in with her, and so far things have been well, even though I'm still trying my best to get used to it all. The drive home was longer than usual since her house was pretty far from where I worked. A lot of things have changed; I no longer had the liberty of throwing my dirty clothes wherever I wanted to, I had to do chores more than usual, and I wasn't allowed to smoke or drink at least as often as before. I never thought that living with a girl would be this difficult. Don't get me wrong, though, Sawako had absolutely nothing to do with it. Normally this wouldn't really bother me, but some things have just been bugging me lately, and I knew I still had to worry about this little dinner party my mother was hosting on the 23rd.

On top of that, work has been the most strenuous thing lately. We've all been under a lot of pressure under the new head of the Engineering Department, and the whole thing's making me wish I never took up C.E. in the first place. Yuji looked like he had a lot going on, too, so I didn't bother talking to him. We haven't really talked as much as we used to, even at work, since we were so busy.

My thoughts drifted to the time when I called Megumi again last night, earlier while I was at work, and we agreed to have lunch together later so we could catch up on everything we've missed, which I knew was going to be a lot. I haven't even told Sawako yet, and something in my mind pushed me not to tell her, since it was probably the right thing to do.

Well, not really. I knew it my heart that it was wrong, but it was the decision not to tell her that felt right to me.

The ride back to Sawako's apartment felt like forever. I was on my way back from Sakuragaoka High. I drove her to school after I was finished with work, as I always do, and now it was time for me to get some sleep. I was going to need all the sleep I could possibly get, especially when I was going to meet up with Megumi again. Maybe even a couple of shots to boost my courage.

I opened the door and hung my coat on the hook on her wall. I stretched my arms up. Thinking about how tired I already was made me feel even more tired, and after I closed the door behind me, I sluggishly made my way to the 'living room' and dropped myself with my face against the floor. These were the moments I missed sleeping in my own bed, though I had to admit sleeping in the same bed as Sawako was a lot better, and I was a lot more active, if you know what I mean.

I couldn't help but wonder, though. If I was already missing my unaccompanied lifestyle only three days after I walked away from it, then how am I going to survive in the future?

Shaking my head, I went back to resting on the floor. Lying around for so long already made me too lazy to actually push myself up and make my way to the bedroom, so I just rested there, staring at the little table in the middle of the room and focused my eyes on it. Then as I relaxed my body more, I found myself slowly being taken by the darkness of my exhaustion until I finally drifted into a peaceful sleep.

ᴥ

After taking my five-hour nap and dreaming of myself eating marshmallows, I took a quick shower and changed into more comfortable clothes, which included a white dress shirt under a green cardigan, my old faded jeans, and navy blue Keds. I knew it was sloppy, and really wasn't enough to impress a girl on a lunch date, but with most of my clothes still back at my house, I really didn't have that much of a choice. Before I left, I took my coat and tossed it on.

The drive to our meeting place seemed like the longest drive of my life. The fact that I still haven't told Sawako anything yet was still hammered to my conscience. I couldn't even drive properly. I almost ran over an old lady crossing the road on a yellow light. I had to come down, apologize, and help her cross the road myself, which turned out to be a drag. I think if she hadn't really found me charming like she told me I was, she wouldn't have forgiven me for any of that. Inheriting my father's pretty face is one of the few things in life that I'm thankful for.

It took a good twenty minutes before I finally arrived at the J. Women's University to pick Megumi up, and as I drove into the campus, I checked the time: 12:49. As I parked my car on the lot by the open grounds, I kept praying that the girls of After School Tea Time wouldn't see me, or if they did, they wouldn't recognize me. I mean, it's been a while, right? They'd probably be too busy tending to schoolwork to remember someone like me. At least I had hoped so.

"Haru-chan!"

Oh crap. Of course this had to happen.

I flinched as soon as I heard that voice, stepping out of my car and shutting the door behind me. I couldn't believe my luck. Before I knew it, Yui Hirasawa, of all people, was hugging the crap out of me, and right behind her were her bandmates. "Oh, hey there, Yui. It's been a while." I said as she continued to wobble me until I pretty much couldn't feel my head anymore. I felt like it was going to fall off any minute if she didn't stop soon. I pretended to be pleasantly surprised, but mostly I was just surprised. As happy as I was to see them again, it just really wasn't the right time.

I saw Ritsu grinning at me. Her hair looked a little shorter. "You've lost weight, Haru-chan." She observed. There was that mischievous look on her face again that I so fondly remember. "You look like you've been pretty busy."

"So what brings you here, Sato-san?" The girl I remembered as Tsumugi asked. I noticed she was standing on my right.

"I actually have something I need Ms. Takada to look into. Something from work, you see." I said, smiling the best I could so that they might be able to buy it. I was lying again, I know. I've been doing that a lot lately. But I knew I needed to. "She's your professor, right?"

They all looked at together and nodded. All of them looked like they believed me. That was good.

Ritsu stepped forward again. "So how are you and Miss Sawa-chan doing?" She pried, which completely came out of nowhere. I was smiling on the outside, but in my mind I was screaming curses at her for being so inquisitive, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting that kind of question.

Still, I tried my best to answer. "Great, actually. I just moved in with her a couple of days ago."

I was looking at the ground, and I could hear all of them fussing over what I just said like the little teenage girls that they were. Well, I suppose it was great news, so I let them talk about it amongst themselves while I just stood there and waited for the real reason I came in the first place. Megumi sure was taking her sweet time. Perhaps this was part of my punishment. I knew she couldn't have had anything to do with these girls coming here, but Christ, what a sadist.

"That's great news, Haru-chan. Looks like the two of you are doing well." Said Tsumugi. She made it sound like being in this relationship was something I should excel in.

Ritsu elbowed my rib, and it made me step back a bit in surprise. "Yeah, you look like you're having a great time."

Was I really?

"Yes, of course." I told them, clearing my throat and feigning shyness. I tried my hand at changing the topic after I just chuckled as a response to what Ritsu said. "So how have you girls been? Are you still playing as a band?"

"That's right!" Yui answered right away, as enthusiastic as ever.

"We actually just finished a gig last Friday." Mio bragged. Finally, she spoke up. I could never really understand why she was always so uptight whenever she's talking to me, or perhaps that's just the way she is around everyone?

"Ah, that's good. It's nice to see you girls are still active as a group. I'd love to come by one of your shows." I said. I really was interested.

"Well, we'd actually invite you if you weren't so busy." Ritsu said.

I just shrugged. "I guess you have a point." I said, letting out a little laugh. "I just wish I had more free time."

"No, you just need to figure out how to manage your time well."

The girls and I all turned at the same time and followed that familiar voice, and much to my delight, Megumi has finally arrived, greeting me with a quick kiss on the cheek before she turned to the girls, all of which, if I remember correctly, were her students. "Took you long enough." I groaned as I looked down at her.

"Hey there, Ms. Takada." They all greeted in unison.

Megumi smiled down at them, and I just watched them. She did a great job ignoring what I said, by the way. "Good afternoon, girls." She greeted. "What a small world. You all know Mr. Sato?"

Yui was the first one to answer. "Yeah! Haru's actually..."

"Yui and I are sort of like childhood friends." I blurted. I had to cut her off before she said anything else. "And I met her bandmates shortly after I came back to the country." I then pulled my sleeve up and glanced at my wristwatch, feigning surprise and rambled about how Megumi and I needed to get going since we didn't have that much time, but mostly it was just me. Plus I didn't want to partake in any more unnecessary chatter with the girls of After School Tea Time that might give me away. I really didn't want Megumi to know that the reason I haven't been talking to her lately was because I already have a girlfriend. I haven't even mentioned Sawako to her at all, well at least not yet. I thought I was about to.

I could feel the girls staring up at me as we got back inside my car. They must have thought it was weird of me. Well, I kind of thought I was being weird, too, so I really couldn't blame them.

I felt a little guilty for not sticking around with Yui and her friends a little longer, so as we left, I waved them goodbye, suggesting that we should get together some time, even though I knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

As I drove out of the university with Megumi and into the boulevard, I focused on driving instead of trying to think of a way to start a light conversation with her. To tell you the truth, applying all of my attention on driving was a lot easier since it gave me a reason to ignore people in a way where they wouldn't be mad at me for it because they knew that I really should be concentrating on it above all else. At that moment I thought that Megumi understood that completely, which is probably the reason she was being so quiet.

I didn't actually think I'd break my streak, though. Something in my mind itched, and so I glanced at her. "So, um, where should I take you for lunch?" I asked. "I figured you should be the one to decide since I still owe you."

"How about the usual place?" She suggested. The usual place meant that old Starbucks just a few minutes away from J. Women's and I just smiled and gave her a nod as my answer.

We used to meet there every day after school back when we were still in high school. I went to a private boy's school and Megumi went to one of those public schools named after famous people who did really cool stuff for the country, so it was really the only time we could just sit down, relax, and talk while having a Venti each, and it would always be my treat. I didn't even mind, because back then I was still spoiled and had absolutely no idea what it was like working for things, so I ended up wasting my money on a lot of things that I now considered stupid. Hanging out with Megumi was not one of those things.

It took us a good few minutes before we arrived at the cafe. I wanted to open the door for her, but she stepped out of the car a bit too soon, so I just stood there and watched her move in all her grace, smiling up at me as soon as she shut the door behind her.

I couldn't help but bite my lower lip in awe. I tried to stop myself from grinning, but I just couldn't help it.

She raised her eyebrow at me. "Haru? What's up with you? You look weird."

"It's, uh... it's nothing. I'm still just a little sleepy, I guess."

Before she could say anything else, I led her into the cafe, and we took our seats in a booth near the cashier. She insisted that we sit by the window, like we always do, but I really couldn't risk being seen by anyone who might tell Sawako about my little lunch date with another girl, so I persuaded her into going with my decision. It wasn't that easy, though. We stood there bickering about it for, like, two minutes.

In the end, she just sighed and sat down, finally giving into me. I could tell she was upset, but not so much, which was a relief. As a consolation, I told her I'd pay for everything, like I always did.

"So how've you been?" I asked after a minute of silence. I sat down next to her as we waited for our drinks to arrive. She looked like she was deep in thought.

She looked up at me with a forced smile. "Fine, basically, but pretty busy. It's midterm exams week already, and everything in the university is getting a lot busier."

"And that includes you."

"Yep." She then gave me a questioning look. "Not as busy as you've been, though. You've lost a lot of weight. What have you been doing these past few months?" Way to get to the point, as always. It's good to know she hasn't changed.

I frowned. "You know, stuff." I struggled to say as casually as I could, even though Megumi looked like she saw right through it.

"What kind of stuff, Mr. Sato?" She inquired, batting her eyes innocently. Everyone really needed to stop calling me Mr. Sato. It convinced me more and more every time that I really am the son of the autocrat Takumi Sato.

"Well, things are also getting harder at the Center. I'm under a lot of pressure since we're required to finish one project before the winter break. Basically I'm just not enjoying myself." I said, not bothering to elaborate on what kind of project it was since I knew Megumi wouldn't get most of the technical stuff, being a history professor and all. Our professions were just that diverse. It really wasn't my primary concern, but what I was telling her was about my job was true. I haven't even told Sawako about it yet. I continued, "To tell you the truth, I'm starting to hate my job more and more every day. I mean, I thought I could ease into it, but it's taking me too long. I thought about quitting, but then where would I find a job?"

Megumi stared at me as if I said something stupid. "You could find a job everywhere, you know." She told me, as if I was some retard. "In case you've forgotten, you graduated from an Ivy League university. Most people would kill to be in your shoes, but you don't have any confidence in yourself at all. You're such an idiot."

I just looked at her. I didn't quite know how to respond to that. Megumi was just that kind of person. No matter how smart you think you are, she'll always find a way to make you sound like you're retarded. She could probably do that to my father too if she wasn't so scared of him.

It was annoying sometimes.

We talked more about work, since that was the topic that seemed the most important to her, after we got our drinks. She ended up writing a couple of companies down on her little notepad that she thought I might be interested in. The list included big names, like LG, Sony, Capcom, Square Enix, Konami... that was when I realized that most of them were video game companies, and since she was a gamer, she's probably just making me apply to these groups so she could also benefit from the privileges that I may receive upon being accepted. She was that kind of person, too. She was good at helping other people, but sometimes it came with a hidden agenda. This is probably the first time she tried doing something like that on me, but it was probably because I still owe her.

After that, our conversations managed to drift aimlessly until we found ourselves talking about the past—our past. It's like a second visit to a place we thought we couldn't go back to anymore, and this was the first time we talked about it since I came back to Japan and saw her after half a decade. It made me happy, and I could tell she was really happy too. I could see it in her face.

"Remember our graduation ball?" She asked me fondly. Our coffee tumblers were already half empty and we managed to get a little comfortable. My arm was already around her shoulder and her hand was on my knee.

I nodded with a smile. "Of course I do." I said. "How could I forget?"

It was one of my fondest memories. It was back in high school, and Megumi and I had already asked each other out months before our senior promenades, but the problem was that it turned out both events were held on the same night on different venues. We didn't know which one to attend, so I ended up driving her all the way to Upper Heaven, where we had dinner at the Belle of the Boulevard and spent the rest of the night sitting by the bay and watching the stars. Mr. Mash thought it was pretty dumb of us, but he went and charged us only a single yen for everything we ate that night, since it was already pretty embarrassing with me wearing a suit and her wearing her dark violet gown. Everyone dining at the bistro kept staring at us, and I could tell that the band playing was just as distracted by our presence, but we didn't care. We were having fun. In fact, we had the time of our lives.

That was probably the best night of my life. I remembered it like it was just yesterday. We even talked about our future together as we sat by the bay; she told me she wanted to be a famous writer someday, and I told her I wanted to be her agent when that happened. Then she told me she also wanted to be an archeologist, a chemical engineer, a lawyer, and even a doctor. I told her I could be those things too if she wanted me too, and that I'd be anything if it meant staying with her.

After we had a good laugh about it, I asked her something important. "Will you marry me?" I knelt down on one knee, like the guys I saw in the movies. I didn't have a diamond ring, so I just made one out of the twigs I found nearby.

At first she laughed, but then she looked down at me so sweetly, I felt like I was going to die. "Yes, of course I'll marry you, Haru." She said softly. I then stood up and lifted her up with my arms around her slender waist, and that was when we had our last kiss. It was a stupid high school promise. A week after graduation, I had to leave for New York along with my family, and I had to leave her behind, since she got accepted as a scholar in Tokyo University, where she took Literature. Even then, Megumi was a strong woman, but when she said goodbye to me at the airport, she wouldn't stop crying and hitting my chest for being such a jerk, because even though I felt as bad a she did, I didn't shed a single tear. It was because I wasn't really the crying type. Whenever something made me feel bad, I preferred just keeping quiet about it instead of crying over it. I'd just be wasting tears and energy, so I never gave into it, no matter how hard things got for me.

We haven't talked to each other since after I left, and I assumed that was the end of our relationship, but when I came back to the country, she was the first person I looked for, and I found out that she dated my friend, Hiroshi, back in college for roughly two years.

"We were so young and stupid." She laughed until it faded. I laughed too, but I wasn't that sure about the 'stupid' part. She then stared off into the distance, looking like her mind was someplace else that was far from where we were. "A lot of things happened that night, huh?"

"Yeah." It was really all I could say.

"Do you think everything could have turned out differently?"

I couldn't help but turn to her after hearing that question. "Well, probably. I mean, I would have at least tried to do things in a different way." I said.

She looked up at me again. "You think it's too late for that?"

I just looked at her. I didn't know the answer to that myself.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said with a little laugh. "I didn't mean for it to sound so serious. I just really couldn't help but wonder if we're still capable of changing."

"Of course we are. Who we are now is more than enough proof of how much we've changed over the years." I told her. "I mean, we didn't exactly get everything we wanted back then, but everything turned out all right, right?" Of course, I knew I was lying again. Of course everything didn't turn out all right. If it did, I wouldn't have felt so guilty.

She nodded again, but this time I could see her reluctance. "Yes. Everything."

I held the hand she placed on my knee. "Why? Aren't you happy?"

"I'm happy. I just think I can be happier."

"What do you mean?"

She looked at me as if the answer was already obvious, but for some unknown reason I couldn't quite pick the damn thing up, so I just gave her a blank look, which caused her to sigh in defeat, and she stared down at her drink. "Nah, it's nothing. Just me saying stupid things again." She said as she shook her head. "Forget about it."

But I couldn't.

After we were finished, I drove her back to the University, but before she stepped out of the car, she leaned towards me and gave me a quick kiss goodbye right on the lips. I pulled back in surprise, and she forced a smile. "Thanks, Haru. It was nice getting to talk to you again. I'll see you later." I could only nod as she finally left, shutting the door behind her and walking back into the main building, not even bothering to take a look back at me. She caught me off guard again, to say the least, and my fingers slowly wandered until they were over my mouth. That kiss left a hint of nostalgia. It felt like the good old days, like the world was completely tuned out and it was just the two of us. That was something I never felt no matter how many times I kissed Sawako.

ᴥ

That night, after I drove my girlfriend home, I asked her if I could come by my own house to get more of my clothes, but that wasn't really my primary concern. The main reason I wanted to go home was to talk to my brother, Takahiro, about everything that was happening. As much as I hated to turn to him for advice, he was the only one who knew me and Megumi well enough to understand what I was going through.

It took a while for anyone to answer after I rung the doorbell by my front door. Conveniently enough, Hiro was the one who answered, and he looked down at me as if he was expecting me to come. "So, did you finally realize that living with your girlfriend sucks?" Was the first thing he said to me.

"Well, sort of, but not really. That's not why I came here." I groaned, letting myself in. "I actually need to talk to you about something important."

I tried to look up my brother earnestly, and he looked like he understood. He was also aware of the fact that I'd never turn to him about something unless I considered it really, really important. He seemed to get the message, so he just shrugged and motioned for me to head upstairs while he took out the bottle of Jack Daniels I kept in my fridge. That turned out to be a habit of his. Every time we sat down and talked, there was always at least a bottle of whiskey around so we could ease our nerves. It really wasn't a bad idea.

I made my way back to my room and dropped myself down so I could sit on my own bed. Since most of my things were now at Sawako's apartment, the place felt rather hollow, but my old bass guitar was still there, along with my desktop computer. It took a while before Hiro finally stepped inside and closed the door behind him, handing me a glass.

He sat down on the floor. "Where's mom?" I asked him.

"She's out with the girls. They're out looking for stuff for that party. I honestly don't know what kind of stuff, and I have no intention of finding out." He poured a small amount of whiskey on my glass, which I quickly downed in one gulp. He raised his eyebrow at me as I asked him for more. "So what's so important that you couldn't just talk to Sawako about it?"

"Actually, she's the last person I want to talk to regarding this." I told him. "I spent the afternoon with Megumi today."

I noticed how he paused before drinking, after hearing what I said. "I'll assume Sawako doesn't know about that."

"Of course she doesn't."

He took a shot before he continued, "Quick question: why don't you just tell Sawako about her? I mean, she's just an ex-girlfriend, it's not like you're still crazy about her or anything." He then looked up at me, and right then and there, I knew he came to a realization as if it was some life-changing epiphany. He sputtered every ounce of whiskey in his mouth out at my face, and that was when he got hysterical. "Oh, my God, Takeharu! Don't tell me you're still in love with Takada?"

"I still don't know." I answered as calmly as I could, even though he was being the complete opposite. I wiped my face off with my bed sheets. "I know I've moved on, but sometimes it gets hard telling myself that, you know? Especially now that I found her again."

"Then why'd you decide to be with Sawako? I mean, you moved in with her already. Things have been great with you two." He sounded like he was demanding an answer. "Just what are you planning?"

Well, he got me there.

I was going to give him a good answer, but then I realized I'd be lying again, and I really didn't want to lie to my brother while we were talking about something so serious, so I just sat there, thunderstruck, fighting for the right words. But they just didn't come out no matter how hard I tried.

Suddenly I was feeling just as weak as I was back when we were just kids, when I always depended on Hiro to save my butt. This conversation felt a lot like that.

He looked up at me with a certain indomitability in his eyes. "Let me ask you again, Haru. What is going on?"

I looked down at him and frowned. "I kind of told Sawako and everyone she knows that Megumi and I were cousins, so I could have an excuse for being friendly with her without Sawako getting jealous." I explained. "Megumi doesn't know about that. She doesn't even know who Sawako is."

"Jesus Christ." Was all Hiro could say as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was actually trying to think, which to me, was a rare sight. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Okay, trick question. In fact, I wasn't thinking.

I just sat there and shut my mouth. I couldn't defend myself because there was nothing to defend. I was completely exposed, and I couldn't see anything in what I've done that was actually right. Everything I did looked like it was just one step away from completely ruining my life.

"What did you and Megumi talk about this afternoon?" He suddenly asked me.

I cleared my throat. "About work, actually. Then, after we got a little comfortable, we talked about the past. You know, how things used to be between us."

Hiro shook his head in disbelief. Still, he continued to analyze my situation. "Anything else?"

"I noticed that things got a little weird when we talked about prom." I said a little hesitantly. "She talked about how we were young and stupid and stuff like that."

Hiro grinned and let out a chuckle. "Well, you were pretty young and stupid." He just sat there and stared at his glass, laughing at his own stupid joke. He also looked like he was reminiscing about it, too. I casted a quick firm glance at him which made him clear his throat, stop laughing, and look up at me again, struggling to keep that poker face. "Anyway, what do you mean by weird?" He inquired.

I stared down at my glass as well while I explained. "Well, she started talking about how things could have turned out differently, and she acted all weird. I didn't get it." I stopped for a moment. "And when I drove her back to school, she kissed me."

My brother flicked me on the forehead for it, much to my chagrin. "Idiot."

"What?" I demanded.

Haru looked like he just won a court case. "She's guilty of still being in love with you, and you're leading her on." He explained. "But you're an idiot so you don't know you've been leading her on."

Usually, I came up with responses that were just was witty, but for some reason, nothing came. "I'm sorry." I said.

"You're sorry? That's it? You're sorry? That's all you're going to say?" He scoffed as he looked up at me again. "You think if you told those two girls what was really going on, they'd let you off that easily? Just by saying you're sorry? Us Sato men may be charming, but we're not that magical, Haru. We're not Chuck Bass."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Who the hell is Chuck Bass?"

Hiro cleared his throat, looking like he was embarrassed with what he said. "I've been watching too many TV dramas with Alyssa, but that's not the point."

I knew he was trying to be funny, but I ignored that comment about us Sato men and that Chuck person, whoever the hell he was. "Anyway, I know that, and that's why I'm talking to you about it. I want to do something about it while I still can. While everything's still intact."

"And you think I have the answer?"

"I was hoping you might help me find the answer."

He put his hand on his chin as he looked at me. "Do you really want my opinion on this, Takeharu?" He asked me.

I nodded resolutely. "Yes, of course." I said. He may not have been a psychiatrist, but he was still a lawyer. I believed he knew more about these things that I do since I was more Mr. Math than Dr. Love.

"There are two of them, right?" He finally sat down and wiped his face off until a straight expression surfaced on his features. "Cut off all ties with one of them, and focus on the other, otherwise this is all going to end up in disaster and you're going to end up losing both of them. Trust me, you wouldn't want that."

ᴥ

I thought about what my big brother said on my drive back to my girlfriend's apartment. In fact, I focused so much on it that I actually forgot to bring my clothes with me. Hiro gave me time to think about it, but not so long that I have that I have to ruin everything before I finally made up my mind. I knew that, and so I knew I had to make a choice as soon as I possibly could.

I made an imaginary list on my head that noted down the advantages and disadvantages of both situations.

Dear God, this is such a pain in the ass.

I eventually ran out of patience and so I turned the radio up, listening to one of those international radio stations that I loved listening to. It wasn't like I hated the music that my own country produced, but the habit just kind of sank in when I was in college and realized that none of the people there were interested in singing songs they didn't understand. The bad thing right now, though, was that even the fates were against me, because Kris Allen's song, The Truth, was playing, and the lyrics struck me like lightning.

_Trying to be perfect, trying not to let you down._

_Honesty is honestly the hardest thing for me right now._

_While the floors underneath our feet are crumbling, _

_The walls we built together tumbling,_

_I still stand here holding up the roof_

'_Cause it's easier than telling the truth._

Well goddamn it, Kris Allen.

Sawako was a little surprised when she saw me empty-handed at her door, but she greeted me with a welcoming embrace with a gentle kiss on the lips anyway. It made me feel even guiltier about what I was doing to her.

She led me inside and we had dinner, which she bought from a fast-food restaurant since she knew all too well that she wasn't that good as a cook. I often played with sweet words and told her that I'd eat anything she prepares for me, even if it turns out to be so bad that it kills me. I noticed that she liked it when I said things like that, things that she wanted to hear, though I really couldn't tell if it was the truth coming out of my mouth or just more of my many lies. I was probably a lot better at sugar-coating my words than doing anything else.

"So you told me you went home to pick some of your clothes, right? Where'd they go?" She asked in the middle of our light conversation, which really didn't surprise me. Actually, I was expecting her to ask something like that.

"I actually forgot about that." I said as I prepared for another lie. "My mom was home when I got there, you see, and she couldn't stop asking me about what's been happening since I moved out. She's been really worried about me, so I spent the whole time comforting her."

She put her chopsticks back on the table and leaned against the wood, probably so she could focus all of her attention into talking to me. "Well, we did make a pretty big move." She said. "I'd be more surprised if your mother was okay with all of that."

"Well, I thought it'd be nice if I saw you more often."

"Probably not when your family's there." She told me. "If I were you, I'd be spending as much time with them as possible. You may not like them that much, but they're still the people who know you best."

When she told me that, I immediately thought of Takahiro.

"I guess you're right."

"But I feel the same way, though. About wanting to see you more."

"Really?"

"Yes." She nodded with a smile. "I think you know that more than anyone. Besides, you're my boyfriend, so naturally, I enjoy your company." Something kind of flicked me on the forehead upon hearing her say all of that.

That was when I realized that for ever since I bumped into her that day at in front of Sakuragaoka High, Sawako has been nothing but kind to me and has guided me like a real angel all throughout our relationship, despite being a little inexperienced in the complex mystery that people called 'relationships'. I had to admit, though, that I wasn't an expert in these things either, since I was more of a one night stand person after Megumi and I kind of broke up and before my conscience pushed me to give this bond with Sawako a try, but she understood everything about me (well, not really everything) and accepted me nevertheless. She really wasn't lying either when she told me she'd love me no matter what happens, just as I promised her that I'd do the same, even though I wasn't really sure if I was capable of keeping such an oath. It was another one of my sweet nothings, after all. In the end, that's all they were. Sweet, sugar-coated nothings, but mostly just nothings.

It made me feel even guiltier about lying right at her face. I felt like I was betraying her in plain sight. At that moment, my hands were shaking out of guilt, and I kept staring at my bowl, as if I was close to breaking it with my bare hands. I really couldn't say it to her face. I couldn't tell her that the only reason I went back to Japan was so that I could look for my first love and try again. I couldn't tell her that when we met, I only acted nice because I only thought she was pretty. I couldn't tell her that I only returned Ui's test paper the next day because I wanted to see the band that I liked personally. I couldn't tell her that the only reason I ever pursued her in the first place was because I thought there was no longer any chance of me and Megumi getting back together. I couldn't tell her that I was only starting to learn how to really love her, and I'm not as madly in love with her as she thinks I am.

If I told her everything, I'd not only be kicked out of the house, but out of her life. Forever.

I put my bowl down so I could hold both of her hands over the table and stared longingly into her beautiful, trusting eyes. "I love you. You know that, right?" This time I really did try to mean it, and much to my surprise, I suddenly felt good after saying it.

She smiled. "Of course. You do such a good job reminding me of it."

I just laughed and leaned closer to her until our lips were enclosed in another wonderful kiss, and just like always, we ended up getting too intimate.

It was starting to turn into a daily habit, especially after I moved in with her. Well, not that it was a bad thing.

After that she fell asleep on my shoulder, and I kissed her forehead. I actually couldn't sleep, since I had so much to think about. Even after doing something so wonderful with my girlfriend, I still couldn't decide which one of them I had to abandon and which one I had to fight for in order to keep. I wiped my face exasperatingly. Since when did my life become a drama? Times like these, I just wish they offered a college course involving relationships. What a goddamn headache.

Maybe if I told Sawako everything and apologized, perhaps she might give me another chance, just like she always has. But then she probably won't. That held a great possibility, 'cause in a way, I was already fooling her while fooling Megumi too. Either way I was screwed. If any of them found out, chances are I'll lose them both, just like my brother said.

I looked down at Sawako again as she slept soundly. I kind of envied the way she always looked when she was sleeping, as if she was in her own little world, and that she didn't give a damn about everything else as long as she was asleep. That moment I wished I was in her shoes. Must be nice being open to people and living an honest life... well, except for the fact that she used to be in a metal band, but that isn't so bad compared to my secret.

Again, I kept the lyrics of Kris Allen's song on my head. While the floors underneath our feet are crumbling, the walls we built together tumbling, I still stand here holding up the roof.

_Because it's easier than telling the truth._


End file.
